Tracking# 2013-00337 
FA/P 6/7/13, eff. 8/1/13 

I:/13032601.rtf 
(I:/13032601.doc) 

(12 CCR 2509-1)

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Revisions to Section 7.200.3 were final adoption following publication at the 6/7/2013 State Board meeting (Rule-making# 13-3-26-1), with an effective date of 8/1/2013. Statement of Basis and Purpose and specific statutory authority for these revisions were incorporated by reference into the rule. These materials are available for review by the public during normal working hours at the Colorado Department of Human Services, Office of Enterprise Partnerships, Division of Boards and Commissions, State Board Administration.

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(12 CCR 2509-3)

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7.200.3  CHILD WELFARE GRIEVANCE RESOLUTION PROCESS [Rev. eff. 8/1/13] 
The governing body of each county, and city and county, shall establish a grievance process, including a citizen review panel, as required by Section 19-3-211, C.R.S. A grievance filed by a complainant concerning the conduct of a county department employee can be submitted to the county department or the Colorado Department of Human Services Client Services unit. 
The following requirements apply to the grievance process: 
A.  Definitions
“Grievance” means a complaint filed by a complainant regarding the conduct of an employee of a county department of social services in performing his/her duties under Article 3 of the Children's Code. “Grievance” does not include complaints regarding conduct by the courts, attorneys, law enforcement officials, employees of the State, foster parents or other providers of services to children, or other family members. 
“Citizen Review Panel” means an advisory body appointed by the governing body of a county or city and county pursuant to Section 19-3-211, C.R.S. The members of such citizen review panel shall be appointed by the governing body without influence from the state department or the county department, be representative of the community, have demonstrable personal or professional knowledge and experience with children, and not be employees or agents of the state department or any county department. At least one member of the citizen review panel in each county and city and county shall be the parent of a minor child at the time of his or her appointment to serve on such panel.
“Complainant” means any person who was the subject of an investigation of a report of child abuse or neglect or any parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a child who is the subject of a report of child abuse or neglect and brings a grievance against a county department in accordance with the provisions of Section 19-3-211, C.R.S. 
“Conduct” means the manner in which a county department employee behaves when performing his/her duties under Article 3 of the Children’s Code. If an employee makes a decision that is appealable under Colorado statutes and the rules governing child welfare services, an individual may pursue those remedies. The grievance resolution process does not modify the time frames for pursuing the other forms of relief available under Colorado statutes and the rules governing child welfare services. 
“Governing body” means the board of county commissioners of a county, or a city council of a city and county, in accordance with Section 19-1-103(54), C.R.S.
“Recommendation” means a proposed course of action that may be implemented by a county director to resolve a grievance. These proposed actions may include reassigning a case to a different employee, requiring an employee to receive training, or administering disciplinary action to an employee, subject to applicable safeguards afforded to the employee through the personnel system under which the employee is employed.
B.  Time Frames for Resolving Grievances
Any grievance shall be forwarded to the county director for internal resolution within ten working days after it has been received by the county department.
The county director shall act on the grievance within twenty calendar days after s/he receives it. If the county director is able to resolve the grievance to the complainant's satisfaction, s/he will issue a written decision setting forth the resolution. If the county director is unable to resolve the grievance to the complainant's satisfaction within twenty (20) calendar days and the complainant has requested the grievance be referred to the Citizen Review Panel, the county director shall immediately refer the grievance to the Citizen Review Panel, together with the county directors proposed resolution of the grievance.
Within thirty calendar days after receipt of the grievance from the county director, the Citizen Review Panel will review or convene a hearing on the grievance and send a written recommendation regarding the grievance, together with the basis for its recommendation, to the county director and the complainant.
If the county director agrees with the Citizen Review Panel's recommendation, s/he will issue a written decision implementing the recommendation. If the county director or the complainant disagrees with the recommendation, the grievance shall be referred to the governing body.
Within thirty calendar days of receiving the grievance, the governing body shall send its written recommendation regarding the grievance, together with the basis for the recommendation, to the complainant, the county director and to any county employee who is the subject of the grievance. The county director shall issue a final decision including his/her plan to implement the governing body's recommendation, and shall send a copy of this report to the complainant and to the county employee who is the subject of the grievance. Within thirty calendar days after issuing this final decision, the county director shall submit a written report to the Citizen Review Panel including a disposition of the grievance, and shall send copies of the report to the complainant and to the county employee who is the subject of the grievance.
C.  Citizen Review Panel
1.  Access to Information and Confidentiality
A Citizen Review Panel shall have access to child abuse or neglect reports and any information from the complete case file that the governing body believes is pertinent to the grievance, which shall be reviewed solely for the purpose of resolving grievances pursuant to the provisions of this section, except that access to identifying information concerning any person who reported child abuse or neglect shall not be provided and no participant in the conflict resolution process shall divulge or make public any confidential information contained in a report of child abuse or neglect or in other case file records to which he or she has been provided access.
2.  Informal Testimony
Upon the request of the complainant, the county department, or the subject of a grievance, a citizen review panel may receive testimony from experts or other witnesses. Such testimony must be provided voluntarily and without a fee. Further, such testimony will be provided without an oath, will not be subject to objections from parties to the grievance process, and the witness will not be subject to cross examination. Members of the Citizen Review Panel, however, may ask questions of the witness as the panel's procedures permit.
3.  Scope of Inquiry and Recommendations
The Citizen Review Panel shall only inquire into and make recommendations concerning grievances as presented by a complainant and as defined above. The Citizen Review Panel may not access records or receive testimony unless the record or testimony is directly related to a grievance property referred to the panel. Once the panel has made a recommendation concerning a grievance, or the time for making such a recommendation has expired, the panel may not inquire further into the grievance. The panel may not inquire into the conduct of courts, attorneys, law enforcement officials, employees of the State, foster parents or other providers of services to children, or other family members, nor may the panel inquire into the conduct of a county department employee if no grievance concerning that employee or that conduct has been properly referred to the panel.
The authority of the Citizen Review Panel is limited to making recommendations as defined above. Specifically, the panel may only recommend actions that: 
a.  Will resolve a particular grievance concerning the conduct of a county department employee performing his/her duties under Article 3 of the Children's Code; and,
b.  Can be implemented by the County Director.
D.  Annual Reports
On or before July 31 of each year, every county or city and county shall submit to the State Department an annual report regarding the resolution of grievances pursuant to this section.  At a minimum, this report shall include: 
1.  The number of grievances received by the County Director, the number of grievances referred to the Citizen Review Panel, the number of grievances referred to the governing board, and the actual time frames for resolving grievances at each level.
2.  A brief description of the disposition of the grievances, including the number that were concluded without any action taken, the number which were substantiated, the number resolved by case reassignment, the number resolved by requiring additional training, the number resolved by imposing disciplinary action against a county employee, and the number resolved in other ways. 
3.  A copy of its county grievance policy; and, 
4.  A list identifying the Citizen Review Panel members. 
E.  Counties shall publicize: 
1.  The availability of the process for all dependency and neglect cases through the “Notice of Rights and Remedies” and by informing child welfare clients, guardians, and legal custodians of the process during the initial contacts with parties and periodically throughout the provision of services related to dependency and neglect cases.
2.  The rights and remedies for families as specified in Section 7.200.4. 
3.  Any other information about the process as deemed relevant by the governing body. 

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