On a typical day in Colorado, there are about 600 homeless children and 262 homeless young adults ages 18 to 24
foster kids
Posted inSocial Services
Many Colorado foster kids don’t get behavioral health screenings as fast as they should
Data recently reviewed by state lawmakers reinforces findings from a Colorado Sun investigation that found 13% of adoptions of foster children have failed in the last decade — mainly due to behavioral issues
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.
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
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
How do you stop foster kids from running away? A Colorado panel is trying to find out.
The panel created and funded by the state legislature has two years to find ways to decrease the large number of troubled kids who run away from foster care and treatment centers
Posted inNews, Social Services
Former foster kids started a new Colorado nonprofit to help young people. TikTok is taking it nationwide.
One young woman who aged out of foster care was about to have her phone service cut off for not paying the bill. A teenage boy living in a homeless shelter while waiting for a foster placement reached out because he was lonely and hungry. And a mother who was fighting to get her children […]
Posted inNews
The number of LGBTQ foster kids is on the rise, but does Colorado have enough accepting homes?
Diamond Kobylinski spent almost his entire childhood in foster homes, from age 2 to 17. The worst, though, was when one set of foster parents changed their mind about adopting him after Kobylinski blurted out during an argument that he was gay. It was the first time Kobylinski had ever said the words out loud. […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government, Social Services
Bill aims to prevent runaways, improve mental health results for Colorado foster youth at residential centers
Colorado would have to create new standards for residential centers that house foster children as well as examine how best to prevent kids from running away from those centers under a new legislative proposal. The bill follows high-profile scrutiny of the 24/7 residential centers, including a joint Colorado Sun/9News investigation that found that children and […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, Equity, News
“We are their parent”: Proposal calls for free college tuition for Colorado children in foster care
Charis Glatthar became a foster kid at age 14, then lived in 14 homes in four years. She lost track of how many schools she attended. When Glatthar aged out of the child welfare system, she hoped she could go to college, but had no money and no clue about how to apply for financial […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government, Social Services
Hundreds of Colorado children are awaiting adoption. State officials are asking for new funding to find them homes.
The list of foster children who legally belong to the state of Colorado has 533 names. Among them is a 15-year-old girl who has lived in 26 places since she went into foster care and became available for adoption at age 10. Another is a 19-year-old man who has spent 226 months – more than […]