Recent Changes in Colorado Welfare and Work, Child Care, and Child Welfare Systems. State Update No. 9. Assessing the New Federalism: An Urban Institute Program To Assess Changing Social Policies.

Colorado's welfare reform legislation significantly departs from the state's traditional emphasis on education and training while further embracing a decentralized administrative structure. The state's welfare system has shifted from an education and training model to a work-first model. This report presents findings from data collected in 1999 and 2000 regarding the state's social service system. It begins with a short profile of Colorado's demographic, economic, and political conditions, then presents an overview of the state's social safety net. The following three sections offer more detail on specific programs and services: Colorado's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program, Colorado Works; the state's system for providing child care for both Colorado Works recipients and other low-income families; and the child welfare system, with particular emphasis on the interaction between child welfare and welfare reform. Each section discusses important policies affecting the program and the clients being served, the program's administrative structure and general service delivery, and recent changes. The report concludes with a summary of noteworthy trends across the different social policy areas. (Contains 18 endnotes.) (SM)