Legislative declaration

(1) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that: (a) The purpose of this part 4 is to promote the health and welfare of Colorado low-income seniors by providing access to patient-centered dental care and services to individuals sixty years of age or older whose income and resources are insufficient to meet the costs of such care and thereby support individuals and families to live independently with a good quality of life; (b) By relocating and reorganizing the "Colorado Dental Care Act of 1977", which provided dental services to certain eligible seniors, the state department can align those dental health-care services with adult dental benefits provided through other dental health-care programs for seniors and thereby target the resources effectively to low-income seniors who may not qualify for those programs; (c) The state department shall implement this part 4 through collaboration among various executive departments, agencies, and political subdivisions of the state; private individuals; and organizations, including but not limited to: (I) The local area agencies on aging; (II) Community health centers; (III) Safety-net clinics; (IV) Private practice dental providers; and (V) Foundations; and (d) The state department shall implement this part 4 as a grant program throughout all geographic regions of the state using best practices and experience from other grant programs operated by the state department to provide maximum flexibility to safety-net and private-practice dental providers in order to promote the health and welfare of low-income seniors.