Determining the Best Interests of the Child - Colorado

Guiding Principles

Citation: Rev. Stat. § 19-1-102(1), (1.5)

The general assembly declares that the purposes of this title are the following:

• To secure for each child subject to these provisions such care and guidance, preferably in their own home, as will best serve their welfare and the interests of society
• To preserve and strengthen family ties whenever possible, including improvement of the home environment
• To remove a child from the custody of their parents only when their welfare and safety or the protection of the public would otherwise be endangered and, in either instance, for the courts to proceed with all possible speed to a legal determination that will serve the best interests of the child
• To secure for any child removed from the custody of their parents the necessary care, guidance, and discipline to assist them in becoming a responsible and productive member of society

The general assembly declares that it is in the best interests of the child who has been removed from their own home to have the following guarantees:

• To be placed in a secure and stable environment
• To not be indiscriminately moved from foster home to foster home 
• To have assurance of long-term permanency planning

 Best Interests Factors

This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.

Other Considerations

Citation: Ann. Code § 19-3-500.2

The general assembly hereby finds and declares the following:

It is beneficial for a child who is removed from their home and placed in foster care to be able to continue relationships with their siblings, regardless of age, so that the siblings may share their strengths and association in their everyday and often common experiences. 

When placing children in foster care, efforts should be made to place siblings together unless there is a danger of specific harm to a child or it is not in the child's or children's best interests to be placed together. The general assembly further finds that if the county department locates an appropriate, capable, willing, and available joint placement for all the children in the sibling group, there should be a rebuttable presumption that placement of the entire sibling group in the joint placement is in the best interests of the children. Such presumption should be rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence that placement of the entire sibling group in the joint placement is not in the best interests of a child or the children.