The Colorado General Assembly annually appropriates TANF funds for State administration, evaluation, computer system maintenance, funding for specific program needs, with the largest portion going towards a county block grant. The total block grant includes local and federal funds for counties to operate the Colorado Works program. The county block grant is then allocated to individual counties through the statutorily authorized Works Allocation Committee (WAC). The committee applies a formula based on economic and demographic factors to derive individual county allocations.

Counties have primary programmatic flexibility for implementation of the TANF program, and as such are allowed by State statute and program rule to make fiscal and policy decisions based on the amount of funds available to them each year through the county block grant. CDHS monitors and reports expenditures through the Colorado Financial Management System (CFMS). State auditors (both internal to CDHS as well as external) may audit county operations. Colorado segregates State/local maintenance of efforts (MOE) funds from federal TANF funds to increase program flexibility, and ensures that fiscal constraints related to each funding source are applied accurately.

Maintenance of effort.Colorado continues its maintenance of effort based on FFY 1994 expenditures at the level of at least 80 percent unless federal work participation rates are met, in which case Colorado will reduce its MOE expenditures to 75 percent. In order to meet its annual MOE obligation, Colorado may count any qualifying expenditures that are allowed under federal statute and regulation. Qualifying MOE expenditures are any non-federal and otherwise unclaimed expenditure made on behalf of TANF-eligible families with household gross income up to $75,000 per year. The primary sources of qualifying expenditures include:

(1) Colorado Works. This includes expenditures made at the county level on benefits and services as well as program administration costs directly related to the provision of these benefits and services.

(2) Emergency Assistance to Families with Child(ren). This includes case planning services, case management services, counseling, family support programs, intensive family therapy, day treatment, home-based services, non-medical drug and alcohol treatment, or crisis intervention services.

(3) Child Welfare Services. This includes expenditures made at the county level on services for TANF eligible families to protect child(ren) from harm or to assist families in caring for their child(ren).

(4) Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP). This program serves families consisting of caretaker relatives caring for child(ren) up to 225 percent of the federal poverty level through assistance with payments for child care services. Families receiving services are employed, in training, or looking for a job.

(5) Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP). LEAP provides benefits and services to TANF-eligible households for help with winter heating costs. Colorado is aware that it may not count toward their TANF MOE requirement any expenditure used to receive Federal LIHEAP Leveraging Incentive Funds.

(6) Refundable Tax Credits. The Colorado Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Care Tax Credit.

(7) Education Expenditures from the Colorado Preschool Program. This program provides funding to Colorado schools in an effort to establish quality early childhood education programs, strengthen families, and support them as participants in their child’s education. School districts conduct an individualized educational program for the child with family involvement.

(8) Nurse Home Visitor Program. This program consists of nurse home visitors who work with women and their families in their homes during pregnancy, and through the first two years of the child’s life. The program provides regular visits with new or at-risk mothers to improve parenting skills and child wellbeing and to link mothers to needed social services. This is accomplished through regular home visiting sessions through the child’s second birthday.

(9) Pro-family healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood activities enumerated in part IV-A of the Act. Colorado is aware that the pro-family MOE spending provision pertains only to the allowable non-assistance healthy marriage and responsible fatherhood activities enumerated in sections 403(a)(2)(A)(iii) and section 403(a)(2)(C)(ii) of the Act, and listed in TANF-ACF-PI-2008-10, e.g., not public education activities.

(10) Non-profit and private spending. Colorado receives spending information from non-profits, foundations, and other charitable organizations on TANF eligible families. The services provided fall mainly into the categories of family stability, short term housing assistance, educational and youth development activities, job readiness and transportation.