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The Colorado Sun

The Colorado Sun

Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state.

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Photography by Olivia Sun

Olivia Sun is a staff photographer and Report for America corps member for The Colorado Sun.

Olivia covers statewide politics, education and the environment, traveling to the mountains and across the plains. Before this, she spent two years in her home state at the Des Moines Register photographing daily news, focusing on economic disparities, investigations and coronavirus coverage. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa, and while studying journalism and film she interned at The Chautauquan Daily in western New York, the China Daily in Beijing, and NPR’s science desk in Washington, D.C.

Olivia's coverage of the 2020 caucus season has appeared in Liberation, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press, The Washington Post and more.


Email: oliviasun@coloradosun.com Twitter: @olivia__sun

Posted inSun Investigation

Colorado’s mental health system ill-equipped to handle adopted children with severe trauma

by Jennifer Brown, Olivia Prentzel, Shannon Najmabadi and Photography by Olivia Sun 4:23 AM MST on Nov 17, 20229:53 AM MST on Nov 25, 2022

The primary reason adoptions of foster kids in Colorado fail is “child’s behavior problem.” How do you fix reactive attachment disorder or adoption-related loss?

Posted inSun Investigation

Colorado funds only one agency to help families and adopted kids with their trauma-filled past. And its budget just got slashed.

by Olivia Prentzel, Jennifer Brown, Shannon Najmabadi and Photography by Olivia Sun 4:26 AM MST on Nov 16, 20221:15 PM MST on Nov 17, 2022

No family who has received trauma-informed coaching by Raise the Future has reported a disrupted adoption, according to the agency and the state.

Posted inSun Investigation

The same adopted child in Colorado could get $1,000 of monthly subsidies, or none. The deciding factor? Where they live.

by Shannon Najmabadi, Olivia Prentzel, Jennifer Brown and Photography by Olivia Sun 4:28 AM MST on Nov 15, 20221:13 PM MST on Nov 17, 2022

Colorado is among just a handful of states where adoption assistance rates are set entirely by counties. The state is making reforms.

A kid walks along a wooden fence.
Posted inSun Investigation

Failed twice: Colorado foster kids who are adopted often end up back in the child welfare system

by Jennifer Brown, Shannon Najmabadi, Olivia Prentzel and Photography by Olivia Sun 4:26 AM MST on Nov 14, 20221:12 PM MST on Nov 17, 2022

More than 1,000 children who were adopted from foster care in Colorado in the past decade ended up back in the system.

Posted inNews

PHOTOS: King Soopers workers strike for higher wages

by Tamara Chuang and Photography by Olivia Sun 4:33 AM MST on Jan 14, 2022

As the King Soopers strike enters day three at 77 Denver-area grocery stores, negotiations appear no closer to a new contract. But United Food and Commercial Workers Local 7 members remain spirited and rallied Thursday across the street from the Glendale store. Striking workers and union leaders asked the grocer to get its local leaders […]

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The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself.

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