Press Release

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.

The Colorado Department of Human Services has announced the Rural Auxiliary Services, formerly the Rural Interpreting Services Project, has been made permanent following a highly successful pilot program.

Gov. Jared Polis has proclaimed August to be Child Support Awareness Month. This comes as child support payments received in Colorado reached an all-time high of $385 million in 2020.

The Colorado Department of Human Services has launched a statewide campaign, including public service announcements and outreach materials, to encourage families to fill out school meal applications for the 2021-22 school year.

CDHS is celebrating Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) Mental Health Awareness Month throughout July as its Office of Behavioral Health plans to invest about $5 million in behavioral health equity initiatives. 

Michelle Barnes, executive director of the Colorado Department of Human Services, and Mary Alice Cohen, director of the Office of Early Childhood, released the following statement on Colorado Senate Bill 21-201.