Fixing HCPF's Fair HOUSIng Problem

                             Talking to the top people @ CO's Dept. of Health Policy & Financing and realizing they have very little familiarity with FAIR HOUSING -- what kind of LEARNING CURVE does present to the advocate or person with a disability or family member?  A pretty steep one to be sure. 

BUT nobody really wants to be talking to the top people @ HCPF anyway about this, but their providers are violating FAIR HOUSING on a DAILY BASIS and as far as HCPF knows the providers are perfectly within their rights -- they're not.

Further, HCPF is not an innocent bystander -- they need to be involved in reasonable accommodations of "policy, practice & procedure" in order to facilitate the "reasonable accommodations" of placement providers.

It is probably NOT reasonable to expect HCPF Administrators to be experts on FAIR HOUSING LAW -- but is NOT reasonable to expect Medicaid recipients to put up with the routine, daily, cavalier out of ignorance violation of Fair Housing Law either.

We need the HCPF folks and the Housing folks to get together and provide guidance, provide it online and probably develop some tools to address this HUGE FAILURE in execution.                  

HUD:  Office of General Counsel Guidance

on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions 


"The Fair Housing Act (or Act) prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of dwellings and in other housing-related activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin.

"HUD’s Office of General Counsel issues this guidance concerning how the Fair Housing Act applies to the use of criminal history by providers or operators of housing and real-estate related transactions.

"Specifically, this guidance addresses how the discriminatory effects and disparate treatment methods of proof apply in Fair Housing Act cases in which a housing provider justifies an adverse housing action – such as a refusal to rent or renew a lease – based on an individual’s criminal history."

Addressing HCPF's bewildered & Defensive attitude towards fair housing non-compliance


​The Denver Metro Fair Housing Center (DMFHC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating housing discrimination through comprehensive education, advocacy, and enforcement of the Fair Housing Act.

We would propose that Gov. Polis' Behavioral Health Task Force consult with the Denver Metro Fair Housing Center.

We have made a contact to the Center regarding non-compliance with Fair Housing by CO's Department of Health Care Policy & Financing & its providers.

Further, the problematic situations we are aware of are not limited to the Denver Metro.