A similar proposal was scrapped last year in favor of a task force to study the issue. This year’s version would create a system of services for kids between 10 and 12 who get in trouble with police.
youth corrections
Posted inPolitics and Government
Colorado’s youth corrections system wants to grow, which is the opposite of what lawmakers want
Lawmakers reduced the state limit on the number of kids and teens sent to juvenile detention centers just two years ago. Now the Division of Youth Services is asking to bump it up.
Posted inCrime and Courts
Juvenile violent crime is rising in Colorado, making up 41% of youth corrections admissions
Researchers are looking into the link between violent crime and teenagers spending more time virtually connected but physically alone
Posted inColoradans, Economy, Health, Housing, News, Politics and Government
Colorado governor eyes former youth corrections campus for new homeless recovery center
WATKINS — On the treeless flatlands east of Denver, in a field of yellow-brown weeds that feels like the middle of nowhere, sits an empty campus with seven dormitories, 500 beds, a cafeteria, a gym and a football field. Gov. Jared Polis has big plans for the place, a state-owned facility that for two decades […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, News, Politics and Government
Colorado youth corrections system sees biggest spike in violent offenders in a decade
The number of young people in Colorado’s youth corrections system because they killed someone jumped by 32% in the past fiscal year, an alarming increase that coincides with the system’s largest spike in youth violent crime in a decade. Even more startling: In the past four years, the number of youth in the Colorado Division […]
Posted inCOVID, Crime and Courts, News
Colorado is releasing incarcerated kids early because of coronavirus
Colorado’s juvenile corrections system has released 22 young people early as it tries to lower its incarcerated population due to the new coronavirus. More teens and young adults are expected to parole early in the coming days and weeks, part of a Division of Youth Services plan to guard against the spread of the virus […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
Colorado’s most-troubled youth lock-up facility, the site of a riot and multiple escapes, needs a drug dog, staff training
A consultant hired to figure out what’s gone wrong at Colorado’s most dangerous youth lock-up center recommended the state get a drug-sniffing dog, tighten policies for strip searches, raise staff morale and regularly review surveillance video. Those were among 55 recommendations in a heavily redacted report the state Department of Human Services released Friday — […]
Posted inColoradans, Crime and Courts, News, Politics and Government
A youth corrections center plagued by escapes, drugs and a riot is headed for a physical — and cultural — reorganization
GOLDEN — Colorado’s most troubled youth corrections center, where several teens and staff were injured in a riot last spring and where a new report found rampant drug use, will undergo a physical transformation this year. The massive complex — surrounded by mesh fence that bends inward to prevent escape — will become four separate […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Let’s help struggling families before bad situations spiral into abuse and neglect
What a particularly crummy few weeks for kids. The Trump Administration just announced that children at our borders can be detained indefinitely in the same week that we learn the extent of abuse detained children placed in foster care face across the country. Colorado children have fared no better. The state’s Child Protection Ombudsman released […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, News
For teens in Colorado corrections who have kids of their own, the state is trying to keep parental connections intact
The few dozen paper ornaments hanging from the Christmas tree in the lobby of the state human services department were gone in little more than an hour last year. Employees snatched them up, eager to buy the requested gifts: a box of diapers, a warm coat, a baby doll. Like most other giving trees, this […]