Committee advances YOS reforms to expand trauma‑informed services and access for youth

House Bill 10‑64, presented in Senate Judiciary on Feb. 23, would revise statutes governing the Youth Offender System (YOS) to modernize language, require comprehensive health assessments, and expand access to evidence‑based, trauma‑informed programming for adjudicated youth. Sponsor remarks framed the bill as an effort to update statutory text to reflect reforms already occurring inside the Department of Corrections and to ensure equal access regardless of disability, sexual orientation or other protected characteristics.

Support: Jack Johnson of Disability Law Colorado described the bill as aligning statute with decades of internal practice and task‑force recommendations; Dawn Fritz of Colorado PTA urged support for individualized plans, reasonable accommodations and family engagement. Sponsors said amendments would be filed on second reading to address technical and implementation details.

Outcome: Senator Hendrickson moved HB10‑64 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation; the committee approved the motion by a 5–2 vote and the bill proceeded to the next stage of the legislative process.

Context: Supporters said the bill will modestly expand rehabilitative opportunities in YOS, a program that can shorten sentences and emphasize reintegration; opponents did not register sustained opposition in committee testimony.

Next step: HB10‑64 is on the calendar for Committee of the Whole action.