Colorado TRAILS entry

What to do when you receive a letter from the State of Colorado entering your name into the state abuse registry for child or adult abuse

 Colorado has a database of those accused of child abuse or neglect, adult abuse or neglect, and any instances of injury to vulnerable adults or populations.  There is precious little information about the system in the public eye, so this article seeks to explain how damaging this database can be, and why it is important to fight against any notice of entry into that database.

Any instance of abuse or neglect and result in a police investigation and the consideration of criminal charges.  In many instances however those complaints and investigations will not result in conviction given the higher standards of proof in criminal cases.  Completely opposite that system is the TRAILS system; one which results in your entry into a state database without any due process in advance.  There is notice only after your name is entered into the database.  The grounds for entry into the database may not involve interaction with law enforcement, or even an interview with the accused.  The first indication you have any problem will be a letter from the Attorney General, Department of Law, indicating you are already on the list.

The TRAILS system is accessible to many employers particularly in health care and education.  The entry into that database will disqualify anyone from most jobs in those fields, including care for elderly or disabled adults as part of Medicaid contracts or day programs for that population.  This can eliminate or destroy host home providers, small home care agencies, and day care programs in Colorado.  The Department of Human Services will immediately terminate contracts with providers if an instance of abuse or neglect is reported.

The reports themselves are minimal, based primarily on investigations by protective services workers in individual counties.  There are few standards for such investigations and the Departments in each county have varying levels of personnel and funding for such work.  This means you can be found to have abused or neglected another, with the subsequent report to the state, with no trial or other hearing.

The process of challenging your entry into the database is full of pitfalls.  There are mandatory deadlines from the start of the AG notice; 90 days in most instances to file an Appeal.  The initial appeal is not like ordinary appeals, however; you are appealing your entry into their system, and initially you will only be offered mediation with an AG representative.  If mediation fails then the case can be set before an Administrative Law Judge. There are new mandatory deadlines with the setting of such a hearing, and again, missing any such deadline can be fatal.

The hearings before any ALJ can be delayed by as much as two years.  The system is frankly overwhelmed with issues that must be heard by the administrative system in Colorado; and the long delay in setting these hearings prevents employment in your chose health career, for example, for that entire time period.