(1) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Colorado Homeless Youth Services Act". (2) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) "Entity" means any state agency, any state-operated program, or any private nonprofit or not-for-profit community-based organization. (b) "Homeless youth" means a child or youth who is at least eleven years of age but is less than twenty-one years of age who: (I) Lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; or (II) Has a primary nighttime residence that is: (A) A supervised, publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations; or (B) A public or private place not designed for, nor ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. (III) "Homeless youth" shall not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an act of congress or a state law. (3) There is hereby created the office of homeless youth services in the department of local affairs for the purpose of providing information, coordination, and support services to public and private entities serving the homeless youth of Colorado. The office of homeless youth services shall seek to: (a) Identify and remove obstacles to the provision of services; (b) Improve the quality of services provided to homeless youth; (c) Reduce needless expenditures caused by the provision of overlapping services; and (d) Identify housing and supportive services funding resources available to entities serving homeless youth. (4) (a) In providing the services described in this section, the office of homeless youth services is strongly encouraged to work with the executive directors, or their designees, of the Colorado department of public health and environment, the judicial department, private nonprofit and not-for-profit organizations, appropriate federal departments, and other key stakeholders in the community. (b) At a minimum, the office of homeless youth services shall have the following duties: (I) To provide information, coordination, and technical assistance as may be necessary to reduce needless expenditures associated with the provision of overlapping services and to improve the quality of services provided to homeless youth; (II) To identify both procedural and substantive obstacles to the provision of services and to make recommendations to the entities specified in this section concerning procedural, regulatory, or statutory changes necessary to remove such obstacles; (III) To obtain information from service providers concerning known services available for the homeless youth population in the state of Colorado and to post such information on a website on the internet; (IV) To develop, maintain, and make available a listing of all rights and organizations that may be relevant to the homeless youth population in the state of Colorado, including but not limited to a listing of legal, educational, and victims' rights and organizations related thereto; (V) To obtain information concerning known funding sources available for the homeless youth population in the state of Colorado; and (VI) To work with entities to identify issues concerning sharing of information in providing services to homeless youth and to facilitate resolution of such information-sharing issues. (c) Repealed.
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