On Oct. 20, the Gunnison County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) held the Gunnison-Hinsdale Board of Human Services regular meeting with Human Services.
The board reviewed and approved the Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) opioid-response grant award, navigating its ambiguous wording surrounding compliance expectations. Recognizing the need for behavioral health resources and prevention programs in rural communities, the commissioners determined that the substantial public benefit outweighed potential administrative liabilities. The board recommended establishing a more rigorous preliminary review framework for future federal award agreements.
“I'm comfortable with us accepting this award because I think the risk to us is relatively low,” said Commissioner Liz Smith. “Considering that some of the things that they called out specifically, we fund or have resources from other avenues than aren't this grant.”
Chair Laura Puckett Daniels called the meeting of the Gunnison-Hinsdale Board of Human Services Regular meeting to order and invited Assistant County Manager for Health, Human and Safety Services Joni Reynolds, Deputy Health and Human Services Director Brad Wheaton, Economic Security Supervisor Sebastian Akesson, and Greg Levine of Hinsdale County to the table to discuss management evaluations, cohort modeling, and HR1 changes.
Wheaton delivered a thorough overview of management evaluations, describing them as intensive, end-to-end audit procedures designed to evaluate overall program administration. These comprehensive reviews assess written policy adherence, eligibility determination accuracy, legal appeal handling, fiscal management, staff training protocols, civil rights compliance, and equitable client access. The process entails completing an extensive 200-question short-answer assessment, on-site inspections, navigating initial report findings, and making any necessary changes during the cure period. Unresolved compliance issues can trigger extended corrective action plans and heightened state oversight. Human Services completed its evaluation in September with a 100% compliance rating. Meanwhile, the Healthcare Policy and Finance evaluation is currently navigating its formal cure period, with final documentation due Nov. 9. Although these evaluations demand significant administrative resources and frequently overlap with audits, staff noted that they serve as vital mechanisms for identifying improvements and maintaining compliance.
The discussion then transitioned to discuss the cohort model, an ongoing initiative led by state agencies to organize benefit administration across Colorado counties. State-level proposals have gradually consolidated, shifting from an expansive 12-cohort structure toward a more condensed 5 or 6 cohort setup, reflecting the state's desire to simplify administrative oversight. State administrators are currently advocating for alignment with the Colorado Department of Human Services regional map, which would integrate the entire southwest region where inter-county relationships and communication channels are already active. The BOCC advised that while they were in favor of the regional map, they would like the purpose and operations to be clarified before making a decision.
A major concern was that the process seemed focused on drawing county groupings before settling the fundamentals: what work would be shared, how it would be governed, and how funding and accountability would work. The board noted that the proposed groupings do not yet describe how services operate. Funding is unsettled with the state raising the possibility of a county or outside party managing funds, while counties argued that the negotiated legislation envisioned funds flowing directly to the counties. Performance based agreements also remain unsolved.
Technology is another prerequisite. Counties use different document management systems such as Laserfish or Electronic Document Management System (EDMS), and a shared process for transferring and assigning cases is not yet in place. The state’s Office of Information Technology has not yet identified a vendor or solution, though funding for the technology was included in the bill’s fiscal note and approved.
“There's not even shared technology among the counties right now to make this cohort modeling work in the way that they want, so that's going to be a huge piece,” said Wheaton. “And there's been talk of scrapping CBMS and coming up with a whole new system, which then requires training and unpacking.”
The BOCC raised concerns about the proposed centralized fraud service. No county applied to run it and it was questioned whether the offered compensation could cover the work. They asked that fraud conditions could be considered and handled at the state level.
Gunnison County is participating in a SNAP accuracy pilot that uses AI to flag cases with a higher likelihood of error, which staff then review manually. They reported that it has been useful, while emphasizing that human judgement is important when interpreting local, variable income. The board raised concerns that HR1 will increase the administrative burden on Human Services. Benefits eligibility redeterminations are expected to happen twice a year instead of once, and new work or volunteer requirements will also need to be implemented. It is anticipated that 300 additional redeterminations will happen every year, adding to workload amid turnover and onboarding.
“We're in the middle of a massive negotiation for the future of how the system works and where counties are in it,” said Smith. “I think that was just a broader existential question that I hope that we can dig in too deeper when we talk about the budget.”
The next meeting for The Board of Human Services is scheduled for Dec. 15, 2026.
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