republic-os/legislation/us/states/co/2021a/sb-21-277.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Child Welfare Services Allocation Formula"
description: "The act requires the state department of human services (state department), beginning in state fiscal year 2024-25, to use the child welfare allocations funding model (funding model) to determine the capped and targeted allocations for child welfare services and the funding required for adoption and relative guardianship subsidies, the independent living program, additional county child welfare staff, and family and children's programs.The funding model determines the appropriate level of funding required to fully meet all state and federal requirements concerning the comprehensive delivery of child welfare services. The act clarifies what must be included in the funding model and requires the state department and the child welfare allocations committee to annually submit a report on the funding model to the joint budget committee.The state department is required to enter into a 3-year agreement with an outside entity to annually modify the funding model based on recommendations from the child welfare allocations committee and evaluations and deliver the results of the model each year. The act requires a child welfare workload study to inform the funding model. To maintain the integrity of the data used in the funding model, the child welfare allocations committee annually examines county practices regarding data collection and financial management, an evaluation group annually evaluates the funding model, and, every 3 years, an outside evaluating entity conducts a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of the funding model.The act includes a $250,000 appropriation to the state department.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/co"
legislature: "Colorado General Assembly"
session: "2021A"
identifier: "SB 21-277"
citation: "Colorado SB 21-277 (2021A)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Dominick Moreno", "Leslie Herod"]
version_count: 8
action_count: 13
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-05-18T06:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-06-25T06:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/a57cb0d8-7127-4002-95db-ccfd4b3a21cb"
source_url: "http://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb21-277"
source_hash: "b0b825b00e0c93151b95e25a8026ed6866692f2a399640ce578939b24fc6e2cf"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-co"]
---

# Colorado SB 21-277 (2021A) — Child Welfare Services Allocation Formula

The act requires the state department of human services (state department), beginning in state fiscal year 2024-25, to use the child welfare allocations funding model (funding model) to determine the capped and targeted allocations for child welfare services and the funding required for adoption and relative guardianship subsidies, the independent living program, additional county child welfare staff, and family and children's programs.The funding model determines the appropriate level of funding required to fully meet all state and federal requirements concerning the comprehensive delivery of child welfare services. The act clarifies what must be included in the funding model and requires the state department and the child welfare allocations committee to annually submit a report on the funding model to the joint budget committee.The state department is required to enter into a 3-year agreement with an outside entity to annually modify the funding model based on recommendations from the child welfare allocations committee and evaluations and deliver the results of the model each year. The act requires a child welfare workload study to inform the funding model. To maintain the integrity of the data used in the funding model, the child welfare allocations committee annually examines county practices regarding data collection and financial management, an evaluation group annually evaluates the funding model, and, every 3 years, an outside evaluating entity conducts a comprehensive evaluation of the implementation of the funding model.The act includes a $250,000 appropriation to the state department.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Committee Amendment** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_sb277_h_app_001.pdf)
2. **Engrossed (05/26/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_277_eng.pdf)
3. **Final Act (06/16/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_277_enr.pdf)
4. **Introduced (05/18/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_277_01.pdf)
5. **Reengrossed (05/27/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_277_ren.pdf)
6. **Rerevised (06/03/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_277_rer.pdf)
7. **Revised (06/02/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2021A/bills/2021a_277_rev.pdf)
8. **Signed Act (06/25/2021)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2021a_277_signed.pdf)

## Votes

- BILL — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- BILL — **56–9** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Dominick Moreno — primary (person)
- Leslie Herod — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-06-25T06:00:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`
- **2021-06-16T06:00:00+00:00** Sent to the Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2021-06-16T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the Speaker of the House
- **2021-06-16T06:00:00+00:00** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2021-06-03T06:00:00+00:00** House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-06-02T06:00:00+00:00** House Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
- **2021-06-02T06:00:00+00:00** House Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole `committee-passage, referral-committee`
- **2021-05-28T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In House - Assigned to Appropriations `introduction`
- **2021-05-27T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-05-26T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed - No Amendments
- **2021-05-26T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole `committee-passage`
- **2021-05-24T06:00:00+00:00** Senate Committee on Health & Human Services Refer Unamended to Appropriations `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-18T06:00:00+00:00** Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Health & Human Services `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/a57cb0d8-7127-4002-95db-ccfd4b3a21cb`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Colorado legislature records).