A newly launched state task force is only the second in the nation to look closely at reforming policies that have gone unchallenged for decades.
child abuse and neglect
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Colorado mom who fatally abused 7-year-old daughter sentenced to 16 years
By Patty Nieberg, The Associated Press/Report for America A Colorado mother who fatally abused her 7-year-old daughter and lied about her health to get handouts from charities worth at least $100,000 was sentenced Wednesday to 16 years in prison. Judge Patricia Herron issued the sentence to Kelly Turner after she pleaded guilty last month to […]
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 inCrime and Courts, News
5-year-old boy’s body found in Colorado mountains after suspected abuse
The body of a 5-year-old boy was found in the Colorado mountains last week, about a month after authorities believe he was abused and died in Texas, according to an arrest warrant. The body of Domenic Patrick Aguilar-Acevedo was found Wednesday in a deep ravine near Fraser, according to an arrest warrant filed in Bexar […]
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
Colorado may toughen probes into institutional child abuse claims following Colorado Sun/9News investigation
A state child welfare committee will consider changing the way allegations of institutional abuse are investigated at residential centers for troubled kids, following news reports about a chronic runaway problem that resulted in two deaths. Two state lawmakers, meanwhile, are vowing to strengthen mental health treatment for children and compel the state child welfare division […]
Posted inColoradans, Housing, Politics and Government
Foster youth who leave the system as teens could return until age 21 under new Colorado proposal
Viviana Cervantes was released from foster care directly from a residential treatment center. Within a few months, she found herself in her college dorm room “with a bagful of psychiatric medication” she didn’t know how to manage. She had a $500-per-month stipend to help start life on her own, but little financial sense to use […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News
Denver’s Tennyson Center to close its residential program after runaways, overdoses and child’s death
One of Colorado’s oldest homes for the most troubled foster children is closing its residential program after a series of dangerous lapses in care, including the death of a child who ran away and was struck by a car. Youth at Tennyson Center for Children in northwest Denver were able to break into a drug […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
Calls to Colorado’s child abuse hotline fell during coronavirus, but harm to kids likely didn’t
As feared by child advocates, the number of calls to a statewide abuse and neglect hotline dropped significantly during the coronavirus pandemic. That’s not because abuse and neglect declined, but because the isolated days of COVID-19 have kept children out of sight. Calls to the hotline fell 13% compared with 2019 — that’s 193,448 calls […]
Posted inSun Investigation
“Fraudulent worker” investigation shakes Moffat County; human services director leaves job
Jennifer Tipp knew who was giving her 15-year-old son methamphetamine. She even had a photo of the adult in a living room with a group of teenagers and a bong. The Craig mom called police and local child welfare authorities more times than she could count, begging them to confront the person who was smoking […]