Colorado Revised Statutes Title 24. Government State § 24-30-2204. Program to assist persons to obtain disability benefits--repeal

(I) Recipients with disabilities;  or

(II) Family members of recipients with disabilities who have experience in representing the interests of a person with a disability.

(2)(a)(I) The committee shall review the proposed programs and shall award a contract to the nonprofit entity that best meets the requirements of this section in accordance with the “Procurement Code”, articles 101 to 112 of this title.

(II) The term of the contract is one year. Before the contract expires, the committee shall evaluate whether the nonprofit entity and the contract are reasonably meeting the requirements of this section, including objective and quantitative evaluations, whenever possible, of the satisfaction of program participants, the program's success in obtaining disability benefits for program participants, the program's effectiveness at helping program participants obtain jobs, and improvements in the quality of life of program participants. The committee shall include the evaluation criteria in the contract.

(III) The committee may renew the contract annually for up to five years. After five years, the committee shall reopen the contract to a competitive bid process.

(I) A system for evaluating whether a person with a disability is reasonably able to navigate the application process to obtain disability benefits, health-care, and employment;

(II) A system for prioritizing the need of applicants based upon the evaluations;

(III) A plan for assisting persons with disabilities in navigating the processes of obtaining and retaining disability benefits, health-care, and employment;

(IV) A plan for establishment of working relationships with state agencies, county departments of human or social services, health-care providers, the United States social security administration, and the business community;

(V) A policy of preferential hiring of persons with disabilities;

(VI) Reasonable standards for accounting control of expenditures;

(VII) Metrics to evaluate the program's quality and cost-effectiveness;  and

(VIII) Effective July 1, 2020, the ability to serve persons with disabilities statewide.