The longer Davion Bugarin talked, his tears turning into gasping sobs, the more lawmakers began to cry. Someone found a box of tissues so the legislators on the House human services committee could wipe their eyes while Bugarin explained how he lost his sisters in foster care. “Separating siblings shouldn’t happen,” the 23-year-old said. “They […]
Denver Human Services
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
A haircut, a wound check, a bath for the dog: One-stop Denver delivery of homeless services reveals the depth and breadth of urban transience
Rhondell Burton was trying to sign up for food assistance when the 3-month-old baby strapped to her chest began to squirm. Khamaj, dressed in a gray sweatsuit and tiny black hightops, was hungry. Burton, 22, found a table in the midst of a crowded Colorado Convention Center exhibit hall to change her son’s diaper and […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
In Denver child welfare cases, the father isn’t “John Doe” anymore. And now more kids facing abuse are in permanent homes.
John Doe is not the father, at least not anymore. An untold number of kids caught up in Denver’s child welfare system have had a father named John Doe, a practice that went on for decades and made it less likely for children to find permanent homes. When the dad is unknown, so is an […]