DENVER — For survivors of child abuse and neglect, the trauma can last long after childhood. But for many, moving forward can be difficult when they can't access the records documenting what they went through.
Colorado lawmakers hope to change that.
A new bipartisan law, HB26-1234, is designed to make it easier for survivors to obtain records related to their child welfare cases, helping create a more consistent and streamlined process across the state.
For 20-year-old Stormi Husted of Lafayette, those records represent much more than paperwork.
"I came to Colorado when I was three years old... Lafayette specifically is my hometown," Husted said.
Like many young adults, Husted enjoys experimenting with makeup. She also has a tattoo that carries a deeply personal meaning.
"Getting that tattoo was something to remind myself constantly that I'm enough," she said.
Behind that reminder is a difficult childhood.
"Going into my teen years, it ended up getting a little harder with my parents using drugs in the home," Husted said. "Me and my brother were then sent into foster care together."
As she got older, Husted said she wanted documentation of what happened to her.
"People didn't believe me, and I wanted proof," she said. "I wanted it in writing that it did happen."
When she was 16, Husted tried to obtain her child welfare records. She needed them for medical care and to qualify for scholarships available to former foster youth.
"I needed a scholarship or a grant, and there was a Foster Ed one that you have to prove that you were in foster care," she said.
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Instead, she says she encountered a confusing and expensive process.
"They told me it was going to be $4,000," Husted said. "I was like, 'I am a foster kid. I don't have that kind of money.' It's my story on paper."
She eventually contacted her county commissioner's office for help.
Rep. Gretchen Rydin, one of the lawmakers behind HB26-1234, said the legislation is intended to eliminate those barriers.
"Let's provide some clarity on what the process actually is," Rydin said. "Let's streamline it a bit, and let's make the process more in line with how records are requested for school or medical records."
Rydin said survivors have already endured significant trauma and shouldn't have to relive it through complicated bureaucratic processes.
"So many folks who experience abuse and neglect have already experienced trauma," she said. "For them to have to re-experience that through bureaucratic red tape is unfair."
For Husted, access to those records means more than preserving her past.
The documents can help open doors to scholarships, medical care and other resources that support former foster youth as they build their futures.
For Husted and her brother, she says they're another step toward moving forward.
The law officially will go into effect on August 12, 2026.
