(1) The state department shall convene a child welfare allocations committee, referred to in this section as the "committee", as necessary in order to make advisory recommendations as described in this article 5.

(2) (a) The committee consists of thirteen members, eight of whom must be appointed by county commissioners and five of whom must be appointed by the state department.

(b) Of the members appointed by the state department, at least two members must be representatives from the two counties in the state with the greatest percentage of the state's child welfare caseload.

(c) Of the appointments made by county commissioners, only one representative per county may serve on the committee at the same time, and:

(I) One must be appointed by the commissioners of each of the following regions, as those regions are defined in subsection (2)(d) of this section:

(A) The eastern region;

(B) The front range region;

(C) The mountain region;

(D) The southern region; and

(E) The western region; and

(II) Three must be at-large appointments. Of the three at-large appointments, two must be appointed by the commissioners of the counties described in section 26-5-104 (4)(b)(I), and one must be appointed by the commissioners who represent the counties described in section 26-5-104 (4)(b)(II).

(d) For the purposes of this subsection (2):

(I) The eastern region is comprised of Cheyenne, Elbert, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, and Yuma counties;

(II) The front range region is comprised of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld counties, and the city and county of Broomfield and the city and county of Denver;

(III) The mountain region is comprised of Chaffee, Clear Creek, Custer, Eagle, Fremont, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Lake, Park, Pitkin, Summit, and Teller counties;

(IV) The southern region is comprised of Alamosa, Baca, Bent, Conejos, Costilla, Crowley, Huerfano, Kiowa, Las Animas, Mineral, Otero, Prowers, Pueblo, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties; and

(V) The western region is comprised of Archuleta, Delta, Dolores, Garfield, Gunnison, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mesa, Moffat, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, Rio Blanco, Routt, San Juan, and San Miguel counties.

(3) The committee shall develop its own operating procedures.

(4) No later than January 15, 1999, the state department, with input from the committee, shall make recommendations to the joint budget committee of the general assembly for a definition of what constitutes administration and support functions as referred to in section 26-5-101 (3)(m) and a method for identifying costs for such functions.

(5) and (6) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2018.)

(7) (a) Beginning with state fiscal year 2018-19, and every three years thereafter, the state department shall contract with an outside entity to develop a funding model that must be used to inform the committee, the general assembly, the governor,and the state department of the appropriate level of funding required to fully meet all state and federal requirements concerning the comprehensive delivery of child welfare services, as defined in section 26-5-101 (3). The funding model must take into consideration workload; demographic data, including poverty statistics; and state and local economic drivers that may influence the delivery of services. The funding model developed pursuant to this subsection (7) must be informed by the recommendations of the delivery of child welfare services task force as set forth in section 26-5-105.8 and must be used to inform the decision-making process of the committee.

(b)

(I) On or before November 1, 2019, and each November 1 thereafter, the state department, in collaboration with the committee, shall submit an annual report to the joint budget committee, or any successor committee. The report must include the results of regular evaluations of the funding model developed pursuant to subsection (7)(a) of this section, the allocation formulas developed pursuant to section 26-5-104 (3), and outcomes and performance measures related to the delivery of child welfare services, pursuant to section 26-5-105.8.

(II) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), the reporting requirement in subsection (7)(b)(I) of this section continues indefinitely.