Section 25-20.5-503 - School-based health center grant program - creation - funding - grants(1) There is hereby created, in the prevention services division of the department of public health and environment, the school-based health center grant program, referred to in this part 5 as the "grant program", for the purpose of assisting the establishment, expansion, and ongoing operations of school-based health centers in Colorado. The grant program shall be funded by moneys annually appropriated by the general assembly specifically for said program.(2)(a)(I) Operators of school-based health centers may apply for grants for the benefit of school-based health centers. The grant program shall provide grants for school-based health centers selected by the division. The division, in consultation with school-based health centers, shall develop criteria under which the grants are distributed and evaluated. In developing the criteria for grants, the division shall give priority to centers that serve a disproportionate number of uninsured children, a low-income population, or both. The division may award grants to: Establish new school-based health centers; expand primary health services, behavioral health services, including education, intervention, and prevention services for opioid, alcohol, and marijuana, and other substance use disorders, or oral health-care services offered by existing school-based health centers; expand enrollment in the children's basic health plan; provide support for ongoing operations of school-based health centers; or provide support for innovations in school-based health care, including school-linked health-care services.(II) Subject to available appropriations, money awarded through the grant program may also be directed to evidence-informed school-linked health-care services models, including telehealth services by a provider located in this state and mobile health units, to expand access to primary health-care services, behavioral health-care services, oral health-care services, and preventive health-care services, unless the division determines that adequate school-linked health-care services proposals have not been submitted for the grant cycle.(III) The division shall not award grants to provide abortion services in violation of section 50 of article V of the state constitution.(b)(I) On or before July 1, 2018, the general assembly shall appropriate seven hundred seventy-five thousand dollars to the department from the marijuana tax cash fund created in section 39-28.8-501 for the purposes of expanding behavioral health therapy, intervention, and prevention services for opioid, alcohol, and marijuana, and other substance use disorders pursuant to this subsection (2). The department shall prioritize funding to school-based health centers that serve communities with high-risk factors for substance abuse combined with limited access to treatment services according to state needs assessments, Colorado health indicator data, and national best practice trends.(II) Any unencumbered and unexpended money from an appropriation made pursuant to this subsection (2)(b) remains available for expenditure by the department in the next two fiscal years without further appropriation.(c)(I) For the 2022-23 budget year, the general assembly shall appropriate one million five hundred thousand dollars from the behavioral and mental health cash fund created pursuant to section 24-75-230 to the department to fund the grant program for the benefit of school-based health centers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative public health impacts. The department or the grantees awarded money must spend or obligate any money in accordance with section 24-75-226 (4)(d).(II) The department and the grantees shall comply with the compliance, reporting, record-keeping, and program evaluation requirements established by the office of state planning and budgeting and the state controller in accordance with section 24-75-226 (5).(3) The division shall engage with and assist communities interested in becoming grantees and shall consider how to support improving access to school-based health care. The division shall specify and provide to potential grant recipients the following information: (a) Procedures and timelines by which an operator of a school-based health center may apply for a grant;(b) Grant application contents;(c) Criteria for selection, reporting, evaluation, and other criteria as necessary;(d) Criteria for determining the amount and duration of the grants;(e) Reporting requirements for grant recipients; and(f) Any other information the division deems necessary.(4) Grant recipients shall submit reports to the division as outlined in the reporting requirements summarizing the use of the grant moneys.(5) A grant awarded by the division shall be used for the school-based health center for the purposes stated in this part 5. The grants shall supplement existing funding sources for the school-based health center, such as federal funds, patient fees, public and private insurance, and grants and donations, including in-kind donations received from community hospitals, foundations, local governments, and private sources.Amended by 2024 Ch. 404,§ 3, eff. 8/7/2024.Amended by 2022 Ch. 271, § 14, eff. 5/27/2022.Amended by 2022 Ch. 175, § 4, eff. 5/17/2022.Amended by 2018 Ch. 224, § 3, eff. 5/21/2018.L. 2006: Entire part added, p. 1596, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2018: (2) amended, (HB 18-1003), ch. 224, p. 1427, § 3, effective May 21.2024 Ch. 404, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3). For the legislative declaration in SB 22-147, see section 1 of chapter 175, Session Laws of Colorado 2022.