The operators of Colorado’s youth residential treatment centers, where children with the most acute mental health struggles go to recover, have warned for years that the system could fall apart without more funding. There are signs it’s happening now. Suicidal kids are waiting weeks, sometimes months, in hospital emergency rooms for a bed at a […]
Becky Miller Updike
Posted inNews, Politics and Government
Advocates to push for overhaul of Colorado’s youth residential centers — and they’re looking to Florida for help
A group of child protection advocates including the state ombudsman and a lawmaker will push for a massive overhaul of Colorado’s residential centers for kids in foster care or with severe mental health issues. They’ve set their sights on copying a Florida law that revamped the way centers in that state are evaluated to make […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado child welfare panel begins work on preventing abuse at residential youth centers
A panel of child welfare experts began the process Tuesday of strengthening Colorado regulations to better protect kids living in round-the-clock treatment centers for foster youth and children with severe mental health issues. The group, formed after a recent Colorado Sun/9 News investigation into runaways and lax supervision at residential facilities, will make recommendations about […]
Posted inSun Investigation
With bites, bruises and low pay, caretakers for Colorado’s troubled youth say there’s not enough staff to keep kids — and each other — safe
Olivia Couch followed as the boy hopped two fences and climbed into a drainage ditch filled with water. Her job was to keep the 12-year-old safe, and protocol at the residential treatment center was to “shadow” children who ran off campus but not restrain or block them. Couch had never given up on sticking with […]