1. (1) The Tony Grampsas youth services grant program is created in the state department to provide grants to entities for developing and implementing prevention and intervention community-based programs to reduce incidents of youth crime and violence. Grant recipients may use the money received through the grant program to enhance existing programs or develop and implement new programs, including:

   1. (a) Prevention and intervention programs intended to reduce incidents of youth crime and violence and prevent youth alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drug use;
   2. (b) Youth mentoring programs that strive to reduce youth substance use, decrease incidents of youth crime and violence, and increase protective factors for youth who are five years of age or older but under twenty-five years of age and who are experiencing poverty, exposure to substance use, family conflict, association with peers who are justice-involved, disciplinary issues, or child abuse or neglect. Youth mentoring programs must ensure mentoring is the primary service provided by the program and make intentional matches or formal connections between youth and mentors.
   3. (c) Student dropout prevention and intervention programs that provide services to students enrolled in a primary or secondary school who are at risk of dropping out of school. Student dropout prevention and intervention programs must utilize an appropriate combination of academic and extracurricular activities designed to enhance the overall education of students in secondary schools.
   4. (d) Out-of-school time programs that may include an alcohol, tobacco, or other drug use intervention, prevention, and education component and primarily serve youth enrolled in grades six through eight or youth who are twelve to fourteen years of age. Out-of-school time programs must be designed to help youth develop their interests and skills in the areas of sports and fitness, character and leadership, or arts and culture and may provide education regarding the dangers of the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Grant money must not be used for out-of-school time programs that are designed primarily to increase academic achievement or that provide religious instruction.
   5. (e) Child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention strategies that provide services to children and their families with the goal of increasing family strengths, enhancing child development, and reducing the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. Child abuse and neglect prevention and intervention strategies must be based on engaging families, programs, and communities in enhancing protective factors.

2. (2)

   1. (a) The state department shall administer the grant program, monitor the effectiveness of programs that receive grants, and, subject to available appropriations, award grants as provided in this section.
   2. (b) Grant awards must be paid out of the youth service program fund created in subsection (7) of this section or out of the general fund. The state department, in accordance with the timelines adopted pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, shall submit a list of the entities chosen to receive grants to the board for approval. The board shall either approve or disapprove the entire list of entities by responding to the state department within twenty days. If the board does not respond to the state department within twenty days after receipt of the list, the list is approved. The state department shall not award a grant without the prior approval of the board.

3. (3)

   1. (a) The state department, in collaboration with the board, shall develop and make available program guidelines, including, but not limited to:

      1. (I) Guidelines for proposal design for single entity applicants, multi-entity applicants, and intermediary entity applicants; and
      2. (II) Processes for local review and prioritization of grant program applications.

   2. (b) In addition to the guidelines developed pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of this section, the state department, in collaboration with the board, shall develop criteria for awarding grants, including, but not limited to, the following requirements:

      1. (I) That the program is operated in cooperation with a local government, a local governmental agency, or a local nonprofit or not-for-profit agency;
      2. (II) That the program is community-based, receiving input from organizations in the community such as schools, community mental health centers, local nonprofit or not-for-profit agencies, local law enforcement agencies, businesses, and individuals within the community;
      3. (III) That the program utilizes evidence-based or evidence-informed practices in the delivery of services;
      4. (IV) That the grant application process identifies and prioritizes funding programs that meet a need in the community, including, but not limited to, the presence of risk factors in a grant applicant's intended populations;
      5. (V) That the program is directed at providing prevention and intervention services to children, youth, and their families in an effort to decrease incidents of youth crime and violence; preventing child abuse and neglect; decreasing youth alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drug use; providing services to students and their families in an effort to reduce the dropout rate in secondary schools; or providing youth mentoring;
      6. (VI) If an entity is seeking a grant for a student dropout prevention and intervention program, whether the program has been implemented elsewhere, if known, and, if so, the relative success of the program. It is not required, however, that the program be previously implemented for the state department to award a grant to the entity.
      7. (VII) If an entity is seeking a grant for a program directed at providing prevention and intervention services to youth and their families in an effort to decrease incidents of youth crime and violence, whether the program includes restorative justice components. It is not required, however, that the program include restorative justice components for the state department to award a grant to the entity.
   3. (c) An entity is eligible to receive a grant for out-of-school time programs regardless of whether the out-of-school time program to which the grant would apply serves youth who are eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch pursuant to the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et seq.
4. (4) In addition to the guidelines and criteria developed pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, the state department shall establish timelines for submitting and reviewing grant applications and timelines for submitting the list of entities chosen to receive grants to the board. If the board disapproves the list, the state department may submit a replacement list within thirty days after the disapproval.
5. (5) The state department shall review all applications received pursuant to this section and select the grant recipients and the amount of each grant.

6. (6)

   1. (a) Except as provided in subsection (6)(b) of this section, each entity that receives a grant shall annually report the following information to the state department:

      1. (I) The total number of individuals served;
      2. (II) The demographic information of each individual served;

      3. (III) A description of the services provided and how the services meet one or more of the following priorities:

         1. (A) Providing prevention and intervention services to children, youth, and their families in an effort to decrease incidents of youth crime and violence;
         2. (B) Providing youth mentoring programs;
         3. (C) Preventing child abuse and neglect;
         4. (D) Decreasing youth alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other drug use; or
         5. (E) Providing services to students and their families in an effort to reduce the dropout rate in secondary schools; and
      4. (IV) The outcomes achieved by the services provided and the methods used to track the outcomes. Measuring the outcome of student dropout prevention and intervention programs must include the implementation of a method by which to track the students served by the program to evaluate the impact of the services provided, which tracking must continue, if possible, for at least two years or through graduation from a secondary school, whichever occurs first.
   2. (b) Notwithstanding subsection (6)(a) of this section to the contrary, each entity that receives a grant and has an operating budget of less than one million five hundred thousand dollars, or that receives a grant in the amount of not more than twenty-five thousand dollars, shall annually report the information required in subsections (6)(a)(I) to (6)(a)(III) of this section to the state department.
   3. (c) If an entity utilizes a separate process for evaluating and reporting on the services provided, the entity may submit that report to meet the requirements of this subsection (6).

7. (7)

   1. (a) The youth services program fund is created in the state treasury. The principal of the fund consists of tobacco litigation settlement money transferred by the state treasurer to the fund pursuant to section 24-75-1104.5 (1.7)(e). Subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, the state department may expend money from the fund for the Tony Grampsas youth services grant program, including the compensation of youth community members of the Tony Grampsas youth services board. All unexpended and unencumbered money appropriated to the fund at the end of a fiscal year remains available for expenditure by the state department for the Tony Grampsas youth services grant program in the following fiscal year without further appropriation and must not be transferred or revert to the general fund at the end of a fiscal year.
   2. (b) In addition to the money appropriated to the youth services program fund pursuant to subsection (7)(a) of this section, the fund also consists of any money appropriated to the fund from the marijuana tax cash fund created in section 39-28.8-501. Any money in the fund attributable to the marijuana tax cash fund must be used for community-based programs for the prevention and intervention of marijuana use. Notwithstanding subsection (7)(a) of this section to the contrary, any unexpended and unencumbered money in the fund at the end of a fiscal year that is attributable to the marijuana tax cash fund must remain in the fund and must not be transferred to the tobacco litigation settlement cash fund or any other fund.

   3. (c)

      1. (I) On June 30, 2025, the state treasurer shall transfer the unexpended and unencumbered balance of the youth mentoring services cash fund, the student dropout prevention and intervention fund, and the Colorado student before-and-after school project fund to the youth services program fund.
      2. (II) This subsection (7)(c) is repealed, effective July 1, 2026.
8. (8) This section does not prevent an entity that receives a grant pursuant to this article 6.8 from applying for a grant administered by the attorney general's office pursuant to section 24-31-108.
9. (9) The state department shall adopt any rules necessary to implement the grant program.

Source: L. 2013: Entire article added with relocations, (HB 13-1117), ch. 169, p. 574, § 5, effective July 1; (2)(a) and (2)(b) amended, (HB 13-1239), ch. 307, p. 1629, § 3, effective July 1; (2)(d) amended, (HB 13-1181), ch. 74, p. 239, § 7, effective July 1. L. 2014: (1)(b) and (2)(d) amended, (SB 14-215), ch. 352, p. 1615, § 7, effective July 1. L. 2015: (2)(d)(I) amended, (HB 15-1365), ch. 245, p. 904, § 2, effective August 5. L. 2016: (2)(d)(I) amended, (HB 16-1408), ch. 153, p. 471, § 22, effective July 1. L. 2022: (2)(d)(I) amended, (SB 22-013), ch. 2, p. 92, § 128, effective February 25; (1)(b), (2)(d)(I), and (2)(d)(III) amended and (2)(b) repealed, (SB 22-037), ch. 23, p. 148, § 2, effective March 17. L. 2023: (2)(d)(I) amended, (HB 23-1301), ch. 303, p. 1833, § 56, effective August 7. L. 2025: Entire section amended with relocations, (SB 25-197), ch. 256, p. 1273, § 3, effective August 6.

Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 25-20.5-201 as it existed prior to 2013.

(2) Amendments to subsection (2)(d)(I) by SB 22-013 and SB 22-037 were harmonized, effective March 17, 2022.

(3) The provisions of this section are similar to several former provisions of §§ 26-6.8-102 and 26-6.8-103 as they existed prior to 2025. For a detailed comparison, see the comparative tables located at the back of the index.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in the 2013 act amending subsections (2)(a) and (2)(b), see section 1 of chapter 307, Session Laws of Colorado 2013. For the legislative declaration in the 2013 act amending subsection (2)(d), see section 1 of chapter 74, Session Laws of Colorado 2013. For the legislative declaration in SB 25-197, see section 1 of chapter 256, Session Laws of Colorado 2025.