Colorado Family Support 360

Colorado Family Support 360 is an Administration on Children and Families (ACF) Project of National Significance to Preserve, Strengthen, and Maintain the family unit with an emphasis on unserved and underserved families.

Many families in Colorado who have a child with a developmental disability are becoming increasingly informed and empowered. Unfortunately, there is a segment of the population who lag years behind in having the information and resources to become empowered to effectively navigate systems and locate available and appropriate supports and services for their child with a disability. JFK Partners, at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, has recently received a five-year $1.5 million grant from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities to begin to address the needs of the unserved and underserved families in Colorado who have a child with a developmental disability.

JFK Partners conducted five focus groups in the metro Denver area with families who have a child with a developmental disability. It became clear after conducting the focus groups that families receiving Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) who have a child with a developmental disability should be the identified targeted population of Colorado Family Support 360. With the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Workforce Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Congress replaced Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), a cash welfare program with TANF, a work-focused program that limits each family to no more than five-years of ongoing federally funded assistance. Families on TANF who have a child with a developmental disability face many challenges to meeting the TANF time-limits. The focus groups revealed that overall this segment of families lacked basic information concerning disability services especially related to education and their rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education ACT (IDEA). In addition, lack of child care, transportation and diagnoses and treatment information were concerns.

Colorado Family Support 360 has partnered with the Denver Department of Human Services, Denver Options, and The Mayor’s Office for Workforce Development to implement a comprehensive family support model that helps families who receive TANF become self-sufficient, empowered and knowledgeable about services that will aid in overcoming barriers. The project staff, which consists of two Family Support Navigators, will co-locate at the Richard Castro building located in Denver at 1200 Federal and will serve as a resource and support to TANF Case Managers with the goal of capacity building, developing linkages and providing expertise and technical assistance that promotes self sufficient and stability. They also will coordinate ongoing on-site trainings for TANF case managers and families.

This project has been endorsed by the Governor and it is anticipated that the model will be replicated by other counties in the State.

Major Goals:

1. Colorado Family Support 360 will carry out a process of piloting, refining, and fully implementing a comprehensive family support model.
2. Create a process for replication and dissemination of the model to no less than six (6) counties in the State.

Funding Source:
Colorado Family Support 360 is supported by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children and Families (ACF), Grant No. 90DN0205/01

Contact Person:
Jean P. Snoddy, MSN RN
Project Director
13121 E. 17th Ave., C234
Denver, CO 80262
(303) 315-2323
(303) 315-6844 (fax)
jean.snoddy@uchsc.edu

Staff:
Cordelia Robinson, Ph.D., RN, Principal Investigator
Judy Emery, M.A., CCC-SLP
Bill Betts, PhD
Tracy Price Johnson, B.A.
 

JFK Partners

University of Colorado Denver

13121 E. 17^th Ave, C234

Aurora, CO 80045

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