2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 26 - Human Services Code
Article 18 - Family Resource Center Program
§ 26-18-101. Legislative declaration

(1) The general assembly hereby declares that Colorado needs healthy and cohesive families at all income levels in order for the state to be economically viable. A number of families in communities throughout Colorado temporarily may not have access to the basic necessities of life or to resources or services designed to promote individual development and family growth.

(2) The general assembly further declares that many of Colorado's vulnerable families, individuals, children, and youth do not necessarily live in at-risk neighborhoods. Such persons may not have appropriate resources or sufficient income for adequate housing, health care, or child care because the primary wage earners are unemployed, underemployed, or work at jobs that pay minimum wage or less. Further, many such persons not only live in poverty, but also experience divorce, domestic violence, or are single parents. Children and youth who are raised in vulnerable families experience an increased risk of being abused, being illiterate, being undereducated, dropping out of school, becoming teen parents, abusing drugs, and engaging in at-risk behaviors, including but not limited to criminal activities. Such children and youth are often influenced by and are likely to repeat behaviors that began with their parents.

(3) Therefore, the general assembly finds that it is appropriate to establish a program to provide family resource centers in communities to serve as a single point of entry for providing comprehensive, intensive, integrated, and collaborative state and community-based services to vulnerable families, individuals, children, and youth.