Press Release

The Colorado Department of Human Services recently distributed more than $13.5 million in cash benefits to families in need through funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act.

Co-responder programs that pair police officers and behavioral health clinicians are successfully diverting people in crisis from the criminal justice system and connecting them to services, according to a new evaluation.

Today, the State of Colorado released the first draft of a plan to establish the Department of Early Childhood that will align and strengthen the state’s early childhood care and education services and programs, including the voter-approved, voluntary, universal preschool program.

Coloradans participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will see their monthly benefits increase beginning Oct. 1.

The Early Childhood Leadership Commission (ECLC), Colorado’s early childhood advisory council, has announced the appointment of five new commissioners by Gov. Jared Polis.

Gov. Jared Polis declared September as National Recovery Month in Colorado as deaths due to overdose reached an all-time high in 2020, a rising trend exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Colorado's Office of Behavioral Health is dedicating more than $920,000 in federal funding to a University of Colorado mental wellness program that will provide support for frontline health care providers, educators and school staff.

Several state agencies, including CDHS, announced that agency staff members and other state employees that interact with vulnerable populations and populations living in congregate living settings will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

CDHS's Office of Early Childhood, along with the Colorado Department of Education's Office of Migrant Education and Colorado State Libraries, recently distributed 300 school readiness and family engagement backpacks to families and migrant communities across the state.