The citizen board overseeing Colorado’s Department of Human Services is moving to revise rules for several of its programs to comply with the new law to block services to illegal immigrants.
Several other state oversight panels are expected to do the same in the coming days.
This is the start of a breakneck effort by Colorado’s 19 government departments to get ready for Tuesday’s implementation of legislation requiring that people prove U.S. citizenship or legal residency to obtain public aid or a professional license.
Most departments say they expect only minor headaches in changing their way of doing business.
The Departments of Human Services and Health Care Policy and Finance are preparing for major overhauls of how they provide for the needy, elderly and disabled.
The Board of Human Services is slated to change rules to at least four programs affecting welfare, mental health, child care and pensions for the elderly, making it necessary to provide identification to obtain the benefits, spokeswoman Liz McDonough said.
Other programs, such as those administered by the department’s Division of Developmental Disabilities, may not need a rules adjustment but will issue letters advising caregivers about the law, McDonough said.
About 500,000 people receive some benefit through the state’s Human Services Department.
The agency already screens welfare applicants by checking Social Security numbers and resident alien cards with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“This is just a higher standard of verification,” McDonough said of the residency checks.
Health Care Policy and Finance’s Medical Services Board is slated to make emergency rule changes Monday to three key areas, including indigent and elderly care, and the children’s basic health plan, which covers patients up to age 19.
The legislation does not apply to children younger than 18.
“Tuesday is here before anyone knows it, and it has everyone focused on it,” department spokeswoman Ginny Brown said.
The Department of Revenue, the issuer of driver’s licenses and state identification cards, is prepping for a major onslaught since those documents are primarily what’s required under the law.
“We are in the throes of rule-making,” department spokeswoman Diane Reimer said. “We’re hoping by Monday we’ll know which divisions will be impacted most.”
The Department of Regulatory Agencies, which licenses 43 professions such as physicians and cosmetologists, is also prepping to require the identifications from new applicants and those recertifying their credentials.
“We’re still trying to assess the financial costs and obtain the proper legal opinions,” spokeswoman Julie Horner said.
Staff writer David Migoya can be reached at dmigoya@denverpost.com or 303-820-1506.
