Colorado's Youthful Offender System is specifically designed as an intensive rehabilitation program rather than a standard incarceration sentence, and that distinction matters significantly for how the six years plays out.
YOS operates on a model where early release is built into the program structure for young offenders who engage seriously with the programming, demonstrate genuine behavioral change, and meet the milestones the system sets. Whether early release is available to your son specifically depends on what the sentencing judge wrote in the Judgment and Commitment Order. If an early release provision is included, your son could be looking at getting out in roughly half the sentence or less if he performs well. If no such provision exists, the full six years is more likely.
The programming is the key variable your son controls entirely. YOS is demanding and intentional. Inmates who take it seriously, participate fully, and demonstrate that the experience is producing real change give themselves the best shot at early release consideration. Those who go through the motions or accumulate disciplinary issues serve longer.
On the residency question, being from out of state does not affect the sentence calculation or early release eligibility. Colorado YOS sentences are governed by Colorado law and the terms of the commitment order regardless of where the family lives. It does affect the practical reality of visitation given the distance, but letters and phone contact remain fully available and InmateAid can help maintain that connection without your home address appearing on outgoing mail.
Encourage your son to engage with every program YOS offers. That investment is what determines whether six years becomes three.