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January 24, 2024 HB 24-1031
Legislative Council Staff
Nonpartisan Services for Colorado’s Legislature
Fiscal Note
Drafting Number:
Prime Sponsors:
LLS 24-0350
Rep. Bradley; Joseph
Sen. Kirkmeyer;
Michaelson Jenet
Date:
Bill Status:
Fiscal Analyst:
January 24, 2024
House Health & Human Services
John Armstrong | 303-866-6289
john.armstrong@coleg.gov
Bill Topic: ACCESSIBILITY FOR PERSONS IN CHILD WELFARE MATTERS
Summary of
Fiscal Impact:
☐ State Revenue
☒ State Expenditure
☐ State Transfer
☐ TABOR Refund
☒ Local Government
☐ Statutory Public Entity
The bill requires the state and local governments to make reasonable efforts to
ensure language access for children and families in the child welfare system.
Beginning in FY 2024-25, the bill will increase state and local expenditures on an
ongoing basis.
Appropriation
Summary:
For FY 2024-25, the bill requires an appropriation of $229,249 to multiple state
agencies.
Fiscal Note
Status:
The fiscal note reflects the introduced bill, which was recommended by the Child
Welfare System Interim Study Committee.
Table 1
State Fiscal Impacts Under HB 24-1031
Budget Year
FY 2024-25
Out Year
FY 2025-26
Revenue - -
Expenditures General Fund $219,033 $184,696
Federal Funds $10,216 $12,770
Centrally Appropriated $31,898 $39,872
Total Expenditures $261,146 $237,338
Total FTE 1.6 FTE 2.0 FTE
Transfers - -
Other Budget Impacts General Fund Reserve $32,855 $27,704
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January 24, 2024 HB 24-1031
Summary of Legislation
The bill requires counties to meet the provisions of the Federal “Civil Rights Act of 1964” and
make reasonable efforts to ensure language access when providing services to children placed
in out-of-home care and their families.
The bill also requires courts to provide translation and interpretation services to parties in
dependency and neglect cases, including in dispositional hearings, if the party has limited
English proficiency.
Finally, the bill requires the Department of Human Services (CDHS) to develop a language access
plan to address rights and needs of persons with limited English proficiency. The Division of
Child Welfare within CDHS must train its staff to identify persons with limited English proficiency
and update relevant child welfare records to include the parties’ primary language. The
language access plan must be made public by July 1, 2025.
State Expenditures
The bill will increase state expenditures about $261,000 in FY 2024-25 and $237,000 in
FY 2025-26 and ongoing. Expenditures are shown in Table 2 and detailed below.
Table 2
Expenditures Under HB 24-1031
FY 2024-25 FY 2025-26
Department of Human Services
Personal Services $78,586 $98,232
Operating Expenses $1,024 $1,280
Capital Outlay Costs $6,670 -
Translation Services $68,016 $13,100
Centrally Appropriated Costs
1
$16,426 $20,533
CDHS Subtotal
General Fund
Federal Funds
Centrally Appropriated
$170,722
$144,080
$10,216
$16,426
$133,145
$99,842
$12,770
$20,533
CDHS FTE 0.8 FTE 1.0 FTE
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January 24, 2024 HB 24-1031
Table 2
Expenditures Under HB 24-1031 (Cont.)
FY 2024-25 FY 2025-26
Judicial Department
Personal Services $66,803 $83,504
Operating Expenses $950 $950
Capital Outlay Costs $7,200 $400
Centrally Appropriated Costs
1
$16,053 $20,066
Judicial Subtotal $90,424 $104,193
Judicial FTE 0.8 FTE 1.0 FTE
Total Cost $261,146 $237,338
Total FTE 1.6 FTE 2.0 FTE
1
Centrally appropriated costs are not included in the bill's appropriation.
Department of Human Services. Developing and implementing the language access plan
requires an increase in CDHS expenditures as described below.
Staff. The CDHS requires 1.0 FTE to develop and implement the language access plan. This
Social Services Specialist will provide oversight and management of translation services for
county departments and lead the rulemaking efforts of the department to comply with
federal legislation. Standard operating expenses and capital outlay costs are included. Costs
are prorated to assume a September start date in FY 2024-25.
Translation services. New and existing documents will be translated in dependency and
neglect cases and clients will use live interpreters whenever requested. CDHS requires
$24,000 to translate existing documents into the client’s primary language in FY 2024-25
only. Additionally, CDHS requires $44,016 for translating an estimated 168 documents
generated at $265 per document in FY 2024-25. The need for translation services will
decrease in following years after current documents are translated. Costs for new court
document translation are estimated at $13,100 on an ongoing basis beginning in
FY 2025-26.
Judicial Department. Providing language access services to parties upon request requires an
increase in court expenditures as described below.
Staff. The Office of Language Access in the State Court Administrator’s Office requires
1.0 FTE for a Court Programs Analyst to support the increased need for translation services.
Standard operating expenses and capital outlay costs are included. Costs are prorated to
assume a September start date in FY 2024-25.
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January 24, 2024 HB 24-1031
Potential additional costs. In future years, demand for translation services is expected to
grow as attorneys and clients become aware of these services. For informational purposes, a
review by the Judicial Department of current translation costs estimated the average cost for
Spanish translation was $1,443 per document and $4,002 per document for other language
translation. If 3 percent of written court orders are requested to be translated, including
requests in languages other than Spanish, it is estimated that costs to Courts to translate
documents would increase by $137,547 annually. Because translation costs will depend on
utilization, they have not been included in the fiscal note, and will be addressed through the
annual budget process when utilization data are available.
Centrally appropriated costs. Pursuant to a Joint Budget Committee policy, certain costs
associated with this bill are addressed through the annual budget process and centrally
appropriated in the Long Bill or supplemental appropriations bills, rather than in this bill. These
costs, which include employee insurance and supplemental employee retirement payments, are
shown in Table 2.
Other Budget Impacts
General Fund reserve. Under current law, an amount equal to 15 percent of General Fund
appropriations must be set aside in the General Fund statutory reserve. Based on this fiscal note,
the bill is expected to increase the amount of General Fund held in reserve by the amounts
shown in Table 1, decreasing the amount of General Fund available for other purposes.
Local Government
Counties will have increased costs to make reasonable efforts to provide language access
services to persons in child dependency and neglect cases as well as comply with the Federal
Civil Rights Act. These staff will also engage with CDHS as they develop new language access
resources. This may increase the training time for current staff. These expenditure increases will
vary between counties.
Technical Note
The bill requires the courts to provide translation “in a timely manner and without unreasonable
delay if requested by the party,” but the timeline is not further defined.
The are some court orders that are given verbally in a hearing and recorded in a minute order,
which contain acronyms, abbreviations, and unique court-related language. Because the minute
orders lack the context that the court and parties have, they can be very challenging to
understand. Decoding a minute order is not conducted for English speakers; consequently, it is
assumed it will not be required to be provided for requesting non-English speakers. If this
assumption is incorrect, costs will increase. Page 5
January 24, 2024 HB 24-1031
Effective Date
The bill takes effect 90 days following adjournment of the General Assembly sine die, assuming
no referendum petition is filed.
State Appropriations
For FY 2024-25, the bill requires a total appropriation of $229,249, including:
$154,296 and 0.8 FTE to the Department of Human Services, of which $144,080 is from the
General Fund and $10,216 is from federal funds; and
$74,953 and 0.8 FTE to the Judicial Department, paid from the General Fund.
State and Local Government Contacts
Counties Human Services Judicial
Law Office of the Child's Representative
The revenue and expenditure impacts in this fiscal note represent changes from current law under the bill for each
fiscal year. For additional information about fiscal notes, please visit: leg.colorado.gov/fiscalnotes.