County staff pitch regional redistricting model to share human-services workload

Dan Mikkelki, Arapahoe County human-services director, briefed commissioners on a county-developed redistricting model intended to share caseloads and quality-assurance across counties. The plan aims to equalize public-assistance responsibility and to address uneven fraud-prevention capacity among smaller counties.

"It is shocking to see what one county is responsible for compared to what your county is responsible for," Mikkelki said, describing wide disparities in caseloads and noting that some counties lack formal quality-assurance and fraud-investigation processes required by federal letters to the state.

The board heard that the counties' model achieved roughly 80% agreement among participating counties on major features but that cost containment and the mechanics of sharing fraud/QA responsibilities would likely be the hardest points to negotiate. Staff emphasized that removing local QA from counties that already perform it well would introduce transition and training costs.

Commissioners lauded the cooperative work: several members thanked Mikkelki for leadership and urged careful outreach to legislators to keep statutory language broad enough to permit flexible regional arrangements rather than a prescriptive district map. Staff also noted that the Children's Campaign is preparing an alternate regional map and that multiple proposals may be circulated to the legislature.

Next steps: Directors and county associations will finalize a model for steering-committee review and continue discussions with legislators and partner counties; the item will return to the board for policy guidance if the state advances legislation.