2018 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 19 - Children's Code
Article 2 - the Colorado Juvenile Justice System
Part 9 - Postadjudicatory Process
§ 19-2-923. Juveniles committed to department of human services - transfers
(1) The executive director of the department of human services may transfer any juvenile committed under section 19-2-601 or 19-2-907 among the facilities established under sections 19-2-403 and 19-2-406 to 19-2-408; except that, before any juvenile is transferred, he or she shall be examined and evaluated, and such evaluation shall be reviewed by the said executive director before he or she approves the transfer.
(2) When the executive director of the department of human services finds that the welfare and protection of a juvenile or of others requires the juvenile's immediate transfer to another facility, he or she shall make the transfer prior to having the juvenile examined and evaluated.
(3) (a) Any juvenile committed to the department of human services may be transferred temporarily to any state treatment facility for persons with behavioral or mental health disorders or intellectual and developmental disabilities for purposes of diagnosis, evaluation, and emergency treatment; except that a juvenile may not be transferred to a mental health facility until the juvenile has received a mental health hospital placement prescreening resulting in a recommendation that the juvenile be placed in a facility for evaluation pursuant to section 27-65-105 or 27-65-106. A juvenile committed to the department as an aggravated juvenile offender or violent juvenile offender shall not be transferred until the treatment facility has a secure setting in which to house the juvenile. The period of temporary transfer pursuant to this subsection (3)(a) must not exceed sixty days.
(b) When a juvenile has remained in the treatment facility for sixty days, the treatment facility shall determine whether the juvenile requires further treatment or services, and, if so, the treatment facility shall confer with the sending facility concerning continued placement. If both facilities agree that the juvenile should remain in the treatment facility, the executive director of the department of human services shall be notified of the recommendation, and he or she may authorize an additional sixty-day placement. When an additional placement is authorized, the court shall be notified of the transferred placement.
(c) During each subsequent sixty-day placement period, the juvenile shall be reevaluated by both the treatment facility and the sending facility to determine the need for continued transferred placement. The juvenile shall remain in transferred placement until the facilities agree that such placement is no longer appropriate. At that time the juvenile shall be transferred back to the sending facility or to any other facility that the department determines to be appropriate. The period of placement shall not exceed the length of the original commitment to the department of human services unless authorized by the court after notice and a hearing.
(d) When a juvenile is in continued transferred placement and the treatment facility and the sending facility agree that the need for placement of the juvenile is likely to continue beyond the original period of commitment to the department of human services, the treatment facility shall initiate proceedings with the court having jurisdiction over the juvenile pursuant to article 65 of title 27 if the juvenile has a mental health disorder or pursuant to article 10.5 of title 27 if the juvenile has intellectual and developmental disabilities.
