En la última década, más de 1,000 niños adoptados después de estar en custodia temporal en Colorado terminaron otra vez en el sistema.
child welfare
Posted inSocial Services
Lawmakers aim to reform Colorado’s child welfare system with series of summer hearings
The 11-member committee wants to address long-standing problems with sweeping legislation instead of piecemeal bills
Posted inHealth
Does mandatory reporting of child abuse help or hurt? A Colorado task force is taking a second look.
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.
Posted inSun Investigation
Failed twice: Colorado foster kids who are adopted often end up back in the child welfare system
More than 1,000 children who were adopted from foster care in Colorado in the past decade ended up back in the system.
Posted inSocial Services
Most young teens in Colorado’s foster care system don’t know about birth control, new study finds
About 65% of eighth and ninth graders interviewed in the Denver area said they were not educated about birth control
Posted inEquity
18 Denver programs, many working to direct kids away from trouble with crime and substance misuse, share in $12M
Melissa Mouton founded 5280 High School in Denver after meeting a teenager who had gone six months without using heroin. When she asked him how he stayed sober, the teenager said he had to drop out of school because it was like a “drug den.” The encounter left Mouton, a physician, with a nagging feeling. […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government, Social Services
Moffat County caseworker accused of fabricating child abuse, neglect investigations has been charged with forgery
A Moffat County caseworker accused of fabricating reports to make it seem as if she checked on children who were the subject of abuse and neglect claims is now facing charges of forgery and abuse of public records. Hester Renee Nelms, 43, was under investigation for more than a year by the district attorney’s office […]
Posted inNews
Child abuse victims can now avoid police stations, reduce trauma at first-of-its-kind center in Colorado Springs
Warning: This article contains content related to child abuse, sexual assault and neglect. COLORADO SPRINGS —The carpet leading down the hall toward a row of interview rooms looks like green grass, and outside the forensic medical exam room, friendly owls and stuffed bears line the walls. The entire building, the first of its kind in […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
$76 million could fix Colorado’s youth mental health system, study finds as kids are sent out of state for care
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 […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Zornio: Stop hurting kids with your political rage
The mental health crisis for children is still on the rise, and adults are doing very little to stop it. Over the past couple of years, reports suggest mental health emergency visits for kids ages 5 to 11 are up 24%. For teenagers, that number increases to 31%. It’s a troubling trend supported by several […]