OAJJA: Behavioral Health Information and Data Sharing Grant Program

The Behavioral Health Information and Data Sharing Grant Program is a funding opportunity offered through the Division of Criminal Justice’s (DCJ) Office of Adult and Juvenile Assistance (OAJJA) in consultation with DCJ’s, Office of Research and Statistics (ORS), Governor’s Office of Information Technology, and the Colorado Integrated Criminal Justice Information System.

The intent of the Behavioral Health Information and Data Sharing Grant Program as established by SB22-196 is to exchange behavioral health, housing, and demographic information with the Colorado Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (CICJIS) in order to maintain continuity of care as persons detained in a jail transfer between criminal justice agencies and the community.

These funds are part of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) which are part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). Pursuant to ARPA and related federal regulations, when providing behavioral health services, government recipients may presume that the general public was impacted by the pandemic, and they can therefore use ARPA funds to provide a broad range of behavioral health services to the public.

These SLFRF Funds fall within - Expenditure Category 1: Public Health, 12: Behavioral Health (EC 1.12).

Project Application DEADLINE: June, 24, 2024.

Statutory Authority: 24-33.5-532. Behavioral health information and data-sharing in the criminal justice system.

• Announcement Date: June 3, 2024
• Application Deadline: June 24, 2024
• Funding Decision Announced: Mid-June 2024

• Reconsideration/Appeals Deadline: Approximately 3 days following Notification of Denial
• Grant Agreement Issuance: Fall
• Award Period: December 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026

Every Colorado county is eligible for a grant. Counties that do not have an existing electronic jail management system infrastructure may be unable to complete the activities required in the legislation.

Eligible Activities:

1. Integrate the county jail's data systems with the CICJIS;
2. Standardize (under CICJIS definitions for data sharing purposes) client-specific information through common data fields relating to the behavioral, mental, and physical health needs of persons detained in the jail; housing needs for persons following release from jail; and demographic information of persons detained in the jail; and
3. Automate data reporting required pursuant to state and federal law.

Evaluation

Funding decisions will be made in consultation with the Office of Research and Statistics, Governor’s Office of Information Technology, the Colorado Integrated Criminal Justice Information System, and the Behavioral Health Administration.

Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• How well applicants express their capacity for successfully integrating with the interoperability platform based on technical requirements
• How well applicants explain their proposed process for meeting the eligible activities, including steps and timelines for accomplishing these activities
• How well applicants demonstrate justifiable costs for meeting eligible activities

Applications that are denied funding may submit an appeal within three (3) days of notification; however, appeals may only contain clarifying information specific to the reasons noted in the denial notification and can not contain new information.

What is Fluxx?

Fluxx is the official grants management system (GMS) for the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice (DCJ).

A Fluxx account must be created to view the details of a grant, requirements, access application materials, and much for all grants administered by DCJ. 

This platform is the central hub for all grant-related activities. Applicants use Fluxx to find funding opportunities and submit applications. Grantees must create a Fluxx account to use the portal, manage every aspect of an award, including:

• Submitting Financial and Narrative Reports
• Requesting Payments
• Filing Project Modifications
• Communicating with Grant Managers

Fluxx is designed to be a robust and accessible system that streamlines the entire grant lifecycle, reducing administrative burden and simplifying grant management for our community partners.

Create / Login to Fluxx

Grant Technical Assistance

The job aids below will assist grantee's in navigating the Fluxx grant management system.  A Fluxx account must be created to view the full details, requirements, access application materials, and much for all grants administered by DCJ. 

Below are the job aids for Fluxx:

• How to Login to Fluxx.io
• Need Help Resetting your Password?
• New Organization Guide
• Add New Users
• Organization and User Permissions
• Complete and Submit a Payment Request
• Create, Complete, and Submit DCJ Modification Forms

If you experience problems or have questions about how to use Fluxx, contact dcjgms@state.co.us

What online tools and resources do you recommend for reference?

Below is a non-exhaustive list of resources:

• Office of Research and Statistics Website
• Project-Colorado Trusted Interoperability Platform
• CICJIS Participation Agreement

Can you provide insight as to an approximate expected award amount for agencies?

This grant program is new so there is no past history to base the average amount of a grant award. There is no cap set by legislation. Applicants will submit applications requesting what they need. An advisory committee will review and evaluate applications and recommend funding.

How will the amounts awarded be determined?

The committee making decisions will evaluate the number of applicants, and requested amounts when making decisions.

How much funding is available?

The legislature allocated $1.547,728 million in total funding to the program.

 What is the grant period?

The grant period is December 1, 2024 - June 30, 2026. Spending cannot occur until the grant is fully executed. 

Is this grant program a supplement-only grant or can it also be a replacement grant?

These funds can only be used to supplement existing funding. It may not replace existing funding.

 From a county who uses Motorola Flex (formerly Spillman): Will this JMS be integrated in the future?

Yes! Our team has spoken with Motorola and several other JMS vendors to determine their capacity for assisting their jail clients with integrating. Motorola has expressed interest in participating and indicated the process should be very manageable.

We encourage jails to share the Colorado Trusted Interoperability Platform Technical Specifications document at this link with your vendor to discuss how to best integrate with CTIP and estimated costs. Grant funds can be used for integration solution development and deployment expenses. If a vendor is already working with a jail client on development needs, the solution should be able to be replicated and deployed to other clients to reduce subsequent development costs.

What is the technology that a county may utilize instead of a JMS based solution? (for counties whose JMS does not support APIs)

For jails requiring the development and deployment of an API solution outside of their JMS or that cannot be accomplished by their JMS vendor, we are working with a vendor to provide a developed solution which should be available by September 2024. Suggestions and considerations for how to accomplish integrating to the platform outside of reliance on your JMS vendor can be found in the “Information for Jails Working Independently to Develop a Solution” section of the Colorado Trusted Interoperability Platform Technical Specifications document at this link. 

Will participants be able to view data only or manipulate data as well?

The Custodial reports returned to jails are read-only. Data cannot be manipulated within a JMS through CTIP. Any jail interested in logging report information into their JMS should verify the information and must enter it manually. This is to preserve a jail’s internal data integrity and control. 

Will it be OK not to have all the fields available for data sharing?

Yes. Jails are encouraged to exchange as many of the Custodial fields outlined in the “Data Definitions” in the Colorado Trusted Interoperability Platform Technical Specifications document at this link as they are able. There are many benefits to participating and being able to provide a report to other jails, even if the information is minimal, and it provides the knowledge that another jail did have a particular individual in custody and may have more to share beyond the standard report if they are contacted for that information.

If a jail is interested in adding new data points to their JMS to enhance reporting, they are encouraged to submit an estimate for these costs within their grant application for consideration as a secondary priority to funding integration costs. This may also apply for the Statutory Reporting use case. 

Can we have manual intervention and update on the Custodial query?

No, the query will return a real-time response to the requestor so there is no manual opportunity to provide additional information. However, a returned report indicates that a jail does have information available on an individual that may not be included in the report, so a requesting jail is encouraged to communicate with a responding jail to request more information that may not be available within the standard Custodial report.

What response is provided for fields that do not have values or if a field is unavailable for reporting?

For Custodial data exchange, any field without a value or that is not queryable within the JMS will not be reflected in the response report. For Statutory reporting exchange, any metrics required to be reported within the quarterly report that cannot be retrieved from the JMS must be manually entered into the user interface, or an explanation for the unavailability of the metrics must be provided in the appropriate field in the user interface. 

Can a jail replicate their database so these data exchanges can be independent of their primary JMS?

Yes, a separate database instance can be created by a County for the data broker to call. This is not necessary for payload requirements as the query rate and demand should not diminish JMS capacity, but it may provide an opportunity for internal jail staff to create additional fields to be queried if the JMS vendor does not assist with this within the JMS product. The jail would be responsible for maintaining the replicant and ensuring it reflects the most recent information available.

 Do other jails use connections with their Health Information Exchange?

In an effort beyond CTIP, the Behavioral Health Administration partners with the two Health Information Exchanges (HIE) in Colorado to offer fully funded access to their web-based portals. This is available for the clinical vendors in the jails as the data contained in the HIE is HIPAA covered. This access to the HIE is encouraged to promote continuity of care between jails and community providers. Additional information on these systems can be found at https://contexture.org/co-health-information-exchange/ and https://qualityhealthnetwork.org/.  Additional information about the Medication Consistency Program can be found at https://bha.colorado.gov/behavioral-health/medication-consistency.

Please reach out to Kelly Hernandez, Kelly.hernandez@contexture.org or Cherie Schmitz cschmitz@qualityhealthnetwork.org for more information on how to participate in this exciting program.

Page 2 of the Announcement of Available Funds (AAF) states that the award period will last from 12/01/24 to 6/30/26. However, page 4 of the Announcement states that the award period will end on 12/31/26. Just to confirm, will the award period end on 6/30/26 or 12/31/26? 

Thank you for catching this discrepancy. The date should be 6/30/26. We will correct it in the timeline.

Page 3 of the Announcement states that "General technical assistance regarding the grant application process will be offered to all applicants through webinars, office hours, and other means made available on the ORS website." Just to confirm, are webinars and office hours planned to be scheduled for this funding opportunity? If so, will webinar and office hour information be posted on the program page at a future date? 

Technical assistance or office hour information will be cross-posted on this application page and on the ORS website Project-Colorado Trusted Interoperability Platform page. 
 

How should a grant application be completed if a jail is changing their JMS in the near future and/or during the grant period?

Grant applications should include information about the jail management system your agency will be utilizing long-term that will be connected to CTIP. The grant award period is through June 2026; Any major JMS changes/updates expected before then should be reported in the application with the intention to connect to the new JMS, where development and deployment of a solution to connect to CTIP can happen anytime during the award period after JMS transitions/changes have been accomplished.

 What does this platform offer that is different from the other data sharing opportunities?

No other data sharing platform allows for a real time exchange of custodial information between jails’ management systems. CTIP offers an auto-generated report to a jail, of the custodial information available about an individual from other participating jails in Colorado without requiring staff to fill the request.This process is efficient and saves staff time and effort while quickly providing awareness about potential health and safety concerns for the individual in custody to avoid negative outcomes. This platform does not store individual data for third-party uses. Additionally, CTIP has enhanced reporting capabilities, to further save staff time and effort in regards to reporting quarterly jail metrics to CDPS. 

How limited will the overall success of the project be if participation from jails is limited?

 Participation in CTIP across all Colorado Jails is encouraged and the ultimate opportunity for the success of the platform as all jails would be connected for information queries and exchange. With more jails participating, the platform can achieve exchange of information of a larger number of individuals who have been in custody across Colorado, as well as increase the likelihood jails receive the information they seek. Any jails not connected to CTIP will be unable to receive reports from other jails and will not be able to contribute any information they may have about an individual. The CTIP team is hopeful jails will apply for the current grant opportunity before May 16, 2024, as future funding opportunities to support jails in their efforts to connect have not yet been established.

 Is there any risk or liability for receiving information and then not utilizing it in the care of an individual while they are in custody?    

From the Office of the Colorado Attorney General: Each participant is liable for its own failure to store, maintain, access, or disclose data received by it pursuant to the CICJIS Participation Agreement. Each participant is responsible for its own failure or its own contractor’s failure to store, maintain, access, or disclose data received from another participant. The data are provided without warranty, and each participant waives and releases each other participant from any claims arising out of related to a participant’s access to or use of any data shared. The Participation Agreement does not address a participant’s potential liability to a non-participant for the participant’s improper use of any data provided. A participant’s potential liability to a non-participant for improper use of data is as provided under applicable law, regulations, etc.

Will the quarterly (statutory) report automatically be sent through the software, or will there be multiple steps in the software before sending the report?

The user interface is being developed to automatically draw down the metrics it can from the JMS, then have an option for the user to manually enter/edit if needed (since not all data points to be included in the quarterly report are stored in the JMS and must be otherwise entered), then submit when ready and the report goes straight to the CDPS secure server. This process provides jails with an opportunity to finalize, review, and approve the report, then submit once it is complete. The report will not be sent automatically (since it needs to be checked for validity and otherwise completed for the fields that could not be automatically entered from the JMS).

What about yearly service/support costs?

While grant funds will cover integration and initial costs, long-term and ongoing maintenance and support to maintain a connection of a JMS to CTIP and the user interface used by a participant, is the responsibility of the participant, as stated within the technical documentation. We hope jails see the potential cost savings gained through participation in staff time and effort in collecting/sharing information and generating reports and are able to afford what has been estimated to be relatively inexpensive yearly costs to maintain connection and operation to CTIP.

Grant funds can only be provided for purposes to be used within the grant period. In addition to integration costs, jails may apply for support costs to be used through the end of the grant period (June 30, 2026) as this will be necessary as an initial cost, but support or services for any period extending beyond the grant period cannot be pre purchased. CTIP does hope to offer more funding opportunities in the future to cover upgrades and future use cases for participants. 

What is the “Custodial Use Case Data Extraction”?

The Custodial Use Case data are what will be queried within a JMS to be exchanged with other jails, pertaining to health and safety information about an individual in custody. The data points listed within this spreadsheet (found in the Data Definitions section in the CTIP Technical Specifications document) are what is requested to be accessible for this exchange, if a jail is willing and able to make these data points in their JMS available for exchange. 

A jail is able to apply for grant funds to make JMS updates to add any data points not currently collected, if they would like to begin collecting and offer these data in the exchange. Extraction of data from a JMS is only for the approved data points, does not edit a JMS, and reports returned with these data points are read-only. 

The "Statutory Fields " tab in the above spreadsheet shows the data points for the Statutory Reporting use case as well. 

Is there a way to see which community partners across are currently using this platform for information sharing?

CTIP is a new platform that will connect jails across the state and CICJIS members (CDOC CDHS, CDPS, CDAC, and Judicial). Currently, the jails connecting are the pilot jails for the project (Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, and Moffat). Ideally, other Sheriff’s Offices and jails across the State apply for the grant and participate to send and receive info with other jails and benefit from the other opportunities CTIP offers. The CTIP website will be updated with a list of participating agencies as the platform develops and new members are added. 

What if our jail is not ready to participate, can we wait to apply?

Jails are encouraged to apply for the active grant opportunity that is currently available through May 16, 2024. It is unknown if there will be future funding opportunities to support integration to participate in CTIP. The grant period to use the funds awarded to integrate is through June 30, 2026, so there is a good amount of time for jails to prepare for integration, as long as grant funds are secured now to be used over the next few years when a jail becomes ready to participate.