Emergency Kinship Placement in Colorado: What Happens When a Relative's Child Is Removed

There is almost nothing that prepares you for the phone call. A county DHS worker is removing your grandchild, your niece, your nephew, or your cousin's child — and the question is whether the child will go to a licensed stranger's home or to you. The timeframe is hours, not weeks. The paperwork you thought you had months to figure out suddenly needs to happen immediately.

Colorado's kinship-first policy directs counties to assess relatives and fictive kin when appropriate. Understanding the process before the phone call comes — or in the first days after it does — can help you respond quickly.

Colorado's "Kinship First" Policy

Colorado law and policy prioritize assessment of relatives or "fictive kin" when a child is removed, subject to the child's best interests and applicable safety requirements. Ask the county how the current kinship-first process applies to your case.

In practice, the county department seeks to identify and contact relatives before or alongside the process of identifying a general foster placement. If you are a relative and express willingness to care for the child, tell the county immediately and ask how it will assess you as a placement option.

Provisional Certification: The Immediate Step

Colorado may allow a relative to receive a child through provisional certification or another emergency kinship arrangement while the full certification process proceeds. Ask the county what authority and timeline apply; the standard home-study phase is typically three to six months.

If the county authorizes a provisional arrangement, it may begin with a safety assessment and initiated background checks while the full SAFE home study and initial training requirements continue. Confirm exactly what must be completed before the child enters your home.

The provisional certification does not mean the requirements go away — it means the order of operations changes. You are caring for the child while you complete the process, rather than completing the process before a child arrives.

What a Kinship Home Needs Right Away

Even under emergency circumstances, the county will assess baseline safety items before any placement it authorizes. Ask which requirements it will assess immediately, including:

• Functioning utilities (heat, water, electricity)
• Working smoke detectors on every level and near sleeping areas
• Working carbon monoxide detector
• A 5-pound fire extinguisher
• Medications, cleaning supplies, and any toxins locked away from children
• Firearms, if present, unloaded and locked; ammunition in a separate locked container
• Age-appropriate sleeping arrangement: the child must have their own bed, and bedroom sharing rules apply (children of opposite sex cannot share if one is over age four)
• Water heater temperature set to 120°F or below

The county worker conducting the initial home assessment is not looking for perfection — they are looking for safety. If you have items to address, you may be given a short window to correct them.

Background Checks Under Emergency Kinship Placement

The background check sequence still must occur, but it is initiated on an expedited basis. Every adult in the household aged 18 or older must undergo:

• CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation) fingerprint check
• FBI national fingerprint check
• TRAILS check (Colorado child abuse and neglect registry)
• Sex offender registry check
• Out-of-state registry checks if any adult has lived outside Colorado in the last five years

Ask the county whether any preliminary records check can be used while fingerprint results are pending. A disqualifying barrier offense may prevent placement or require the child to leave; other records may require agency review or a waiver.

The fees for fingerprinting run approximately $40-60 per person. Some counties cover these costs for kinship placements; it is worth asking directly whether your county has a fee waiver policy for relative caregivers.

Financial Support for Kinship Caregivers

Kinship caregivers who complete the certification process are eligible for the same daily board rates as non-relative foster parents. As of July 1, 2025, these range from $42.86 per day for children ages 0-8 to $66.44 per day for children 14 and older.

Colorado has also expanded financial supports specifically for kinship caregivers in recent years. Some counties may offer start-up funds — for purchasing a bed, car seat, or other immediate needs — to kinship families who receive an emergency placement. Ask whether the county's clothing allowance applies to your certified kinship home.

Children in kinship foster care, like all children in Colorado's foster care system, are enrolled in Health First Colorado (Medicaid), covering medical, dental, and behavioral health services.

The Full Certification Timeline for Kinship Homes

While provisional certification gets a child into your home quickly, the full process still needs to be completed. This means:

1. Initial training. The requirement typically totals 27 hours: 12 hours before licensure and 15 hours within three months of the first placement, delivered through TIPS-MAPP or Colorado CORE. Ask your county worker how the requirement is sequenced in an emergency.

2. SAFE home study. The Structured Analysis Family Evaluation is a full psychosocial assessment including individual and joint interviews, document review, and a thorough home inspection. For kinship caregivers, the home study process is the same as for non-relative applicants — it is not abbreviated because you are family.

3. Ongoing training. Once licensed, you must complete 20 hours of ongoing training annually to maintain certification.

Navigating the Dual Role

One of the specific challenges of emergency kinship placement is that you are simultaneously navigating a family crisis and a bureaucratic process. Your attention is pulled between the child's immediate needs — who is likely frightened, grieving, and disoriented — and the paperwork, appointments, and phone calls the certification process requires.

Colorado's emphasis on kinship placement reflects an understanding that family continuity matters enormously to children's wellbeing. The system is designed to support you in getting certified, not to create barriers. If your caseworker is unresponsive or you feel the process has stalled, you can ask to speak with a supervisor. The state's policy goal and your goal — getting the child into a stable, certified home as quickly as possible — are aligned.

The Colorado Foster Care Licensing Guide includes a dedicated section on kinship certification, with a checklist of the immediate safety requirements, the document package you will need to assemble, and a tracker for the background check sequence — organized so you can work through it even in the middle of an emergency.

What to Do Right Now

If a relative's child has just been removed and you are reading this in the first hours or days, contact your county DHS office today and identify yourself as a relative willing to care for the child. Ask whether provisional placement is available and what the immediate safety and background-check steps are.

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