About CDHS for All
CDHS supports people and families by connecting them with assistance, resources and support at every stage of their lives. We serve Coloradans through bold and innovative health and human services. We continue our commitment as a meaningful employer across the state in accordance with the executive order and the partnership agreement signed by Gov. Jared Polis. And together, we empower Coloradans to thrive. CDHS leads by example and models the way to ensure a Colorado for All.
Message from Executive Director Michelle Barnes
I believe strongly in the work CDHS does to create a fair and welcoming environment for everyone. I am dedicated to listening, learning and doing all I can to ensure we build a culture that values, respects and responds to what we hear from our clients, community partners and employees. Listening to the community and working closely with them will be crucial to our success, and we must make sure that everyone feels included and valued from the very beginning.
I recognize that we have a lot of work to do, both within our organization and in our interactions with the public, to better support our staff and the people we serve. CDHS is committed to identifying and addressing any obstacles or unfair differences in our programs. We want to be an agency that meets people where they are and embraces the unique qualities of each individual. We all have a part to play in creating a more just and welcoming culture, and in building stronger, more meaningful partnerships with all the different communities across our state.
Together we are better. I look forward to this journey with all our partners to fulfill our mission to empower all Coloradans to thrive.
Message from Chief Access Officer Sandy Ho
I am grateful for the chance to support CDHS's contributions to ensure a Colorado for All. Through our people-centered practices, we are improving access for both our employees and the people we serve, and I am excited about our ongoing efforts to build a barrier-free Colorado.
We are working to change systems by encouraging meaningful participation, self-determination and access for everyone. We want all clients, communities, partner organizations and employees to feel welcomed, supported and valued.
Every CDHS employee strives to embody our values: people-first, balanced, accountable, transparent, ethical and collaborative. Our goal is to ensure our policies and practices provide the best access and care for everyone. As we work together to improve our processes and services for clients, partners, grantees and employees across all 64 counties across Colorado. CDHS keeps its promise to be the people who help people.
CDHS FAIR Framework and Action Plan
We model our values and commitments to a Colorado for All through the CDHS FAIR foundational truths:
- Fairness: Everyone is equipped to succeed.
- Access: Everyone can fully participate.
- Impact: Everyone is empowered for excellence.
- Relationships: Everyone has a people-first approach.
Family and community engagement
CDHS uses a whole-community, whole-family, whole-person approach, also known as two-generation or two-gen. And to hold ourselves accountable to this approach, we created the Family and Community Engagement Plan, a roadmap to a more inclusive CDHS. The plan illustrates activities the department will be embarking on, who will be held accountable, and how the work will be measured.
One of the highlights of our family and community engagement efforts is the Family Voice Council. CDHS recognizes the value of family participation and engaging the voices of those with lived systems experience. The Family Voice Council is made up of people who have been involved with, or are currently engaging in, two CDHS services or programs. Council members come together monthly to learn, give input and ultimately affect positive systems change. The council has also created a website — the Family Voice Compass — to provide useful information, tools and resources to help other organizations create their own family voice structure.
More information
- Acknowledgment of Native peoples
We acknowledge that the Colorado Department of Human Services, whose facilities exist across the entirety of the state of Colorado, operates on the unceded land of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Eastern Shoshone, Jicarilla Apache, Kiowa, Osage, Ute Tribes past and present. We also recognize that many other Indigenous Peoples also have ties to this land that were disrupted or altered by colonization. We honor and give gratitude to the land itself and the people who have safeguarded it throughout time. It is important for all of us to understand the longstanding history that has brought us to reside on the land, and to seek to understand our place within that history. We commit to continuing to learn how to be better stewards of the land we inhabit as we continue developing relationships with all of its inhabitants.
Whose land are you on? Find out on the Native Land website.
- Engagement opportunities
Our mission at CDHS is to empower Coloradans to thrive with the people-first values of accountability, transparency and ethical practice.
We need your continued input and support, and we invite you to join in our conversations and efforts, whether you are one of our valued employees, a client or community member. If you are a valued employee, please visit our intranet pages with many opportunities to get involved. If you are a client or community partner, we invite you to learn more about our community engagement opportunities. We are partners and co-creators in this work with you.
CDHS is fully committed to continuing our systemwide investment in strategies and initiatives that are both employee- and client/community-centered to ensure access for everyone. We are better together.
- What we're doing internally
- People-Centered Practices: CDHS has committed a team of subject matter experts and practitioners to ensure each of our employees and collaborators are equipped to succeed in our people-first approach focused on outcomes and innovation. We ensure that everyone can fully participate and be empowered for excellence in their work to be the people who help people.
- The Belonging Project: The Belonging Project is an initiative by CDHS employees, for CDHS employees, to create a space where all employees feel a sense of belonging. The group explores specific themes each month and shares employee-created content about their experiences of those topics in the CDHS-wide employee newsletter every week. If you would like to learn more about The Belonging Project, email dawna.haynes@state.co.us.
- Family and Community Engagement Champions: The CDHS Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Champions are individuals across the department who regularly interact with patients, clients, family members or community partners and meet quarterly as a community of practice. FACE Champions help guide our community-facing work and performance measures.
- Additional resources and education
- Colorado Statewide Equity Office
- Colorado Office of Health Equity
- Colorado Equity Alliance
- Women in American Health Care, Problems and Promise
- Guidance for Leaders: Race Discussions
- Glossary from the Colorado Office of Health Equity
- A Toolkit for Leaders, from the American Public Human Services Association
- Affirming Truths About Homelessness, from Community Solutions
Contact us
Dr. Sandy Ho, chief access officer: sandy.ho@state.co.us