For a dozen years, Denver tax funds tagged for people with developmental disabilities have gone to one agency.
That could change following a Denver City Council decision this week that allows the money — $14.5 million annually — to go to agencies other than Rocky Mountain Human Services.
Rocky Mountain is one of 20 community-centered boards in Colorado that determine who is eligible for city, state and federal benefit money and help people with developmental and intellectual disabilities receive services, including family respite care, therapy and job training. The council’s vote was the latest of the changes regarding Rocky Mountain since a city audit in 2015 found egregious misspending, including that the agency was using more than 15 percent of mill levy funds for administrative costs.
Parents of children with disabilities praised the change, saying it will foster competition and result in more flexibility in services. They are hopeful, for example, that mill levy funds could pay for services such as a private swim instructor at a child’s neighborhood pool or a child’s camp fee and an assistant to attend camp with the child.
“This is ground-breaking throughout the state,” said Rob Hernandez, a former state lawmaker who now cares for people with disabilities.
Maureen Welch, mother of a 9-year-old who has Down syndrome, told the council Monday night that Denver is a “shining star for other cities and counties” to follow.
The vote moves Denver closer to compliance with 2014 federal rules requiring an end to conflict of interest in disability systems across the country. Colorado has not yet complied with the rules, which say that agencies that have the power to decide whether a family is eligible for services for a disabled child cannot also provide the care themselves and then bill the state for all of those services.
Under new leadership the last year, Rocky Mountain has redirected mill levy funds away from administrative costs and to more direct services. It also created a “client assistance fund” that will distribute mill levy money to families for items such as camp or swim lessons from an instructor chosen by the family, said executive director Shari Repinski.
After the audit, “we knew right away that we needed to redesign the way we were delivering services with these funds,” she said.