Prior to 1996, the Legal Services Programs in Colorado received money from a variety of sources, which allowed them to address the legal problems of their clients at the legislature and before administrative agencies, when no other avenue was available. They could advocate and lobby so long as they complied with federal regulations related to doing so. In 1995 and 1996, Legal Services Programs suffered significant losses due to federal budget cuts. Congress also passed a federal law prohibiting any entity receiving federal funds from engaging in virtually any legislative and administrative advocacy if that advocacy challenged the validity of federal, state and or local welfare reform initiatives. At the same time, the ability of Legal Services Programs to participate in class action litigation regarding any issues, including access to health care, was also prohibited. Thus the law severely restricted important and critical legal advocacy and representation of the poor by Colorado's Legal Services Programs. Shortly thereafter, Congress overhauled the welfare system in an unprecedented manner by eliminating the entitlement to welfare assistance and allowing states to design and administer their own programs. In response, the Colorado Lawyers' Trust Account Foundation (COLTAF) provided funds to Catholic Charities to address issues involving welfare reform and health care access in order to continue the work that legal services programs could no longer do. The first grant was made to Catholic Charities in February 1996 and continued. It was ultimately decided that the work supported by the COLTAF grant should be done through a separate and independent entity. With the support of Catholic Charities and other organizations including COLTAF, the Colorado Center on Law and Policy was formed in 1998.