homelessness
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‘The program’: Using the homeless to reap Medicaid millions is not new
Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Colorado Watch series that looked into how homeless people were offered housing and “donations” from a church in return for becoming clients of a home health care agency that billed Medicaid millions. Read the other stories here. Federal rules prohibit anyone from giving any Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary any remuneration —…
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‘The program’: On Going HHC roots deeply intertwined with others
Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series. Read about how “the program” exploits Colorado’s homeless using housing and cash, and how home health in Colorado is a complex setup. Seska Bell is a licensed practical nurse who has long worked in the home health industry, according to testimony she recently gave in a…
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‘The program’: Medicaid for home health in Colorado is complex setup
Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series. Read about how “the program” exploits Colorado’s homeless using housing and cash and about the group On Going HHC. Read the other articles here. Home health care in Colorado is a complicated business. To provide the service, agencies must be certified and licensed through the Department…
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Using housing and cash, ‘the program’ exploits Colorado’s homeless for Medicaid millions
Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series. Read about how home health in Colorado is a complex setup and about the group On Going HHC. They call it “the program.” For the past four years, dozens of homeless people in the Denver metro area have been recruited to live rent-free in suburban houses…
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Colorado Springs residents share their thoughts on homelessness, polarization at town hall
Around 40 Colorado Springs residents filled tables at the downtown YMCA Tuesday evening to talk about polarization and homelessness with members of the City Council. The town hall, hosted by Council President Lynette Crow-Iverson, President Pro Tem Brian Risley and Councilmember David Leinweber, was moderated by a team from Braver Angels, a nonprofit that seeks…
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Annual count finds fewer homeless people in Denver
Overall homelessness in Denver went down by 12.5% this year, the first year-to-year reduction in nine years, according to an annual count. Street homelessness is also at a nine-year low, decreasing by 64% since 2023, when Denver Mayor Mike Johnston took office, city officials said. Johnston, who campaigned on eliminating homelessness in his first term…
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Colorado Cost of Living: State is now 4th most expensive in U.S., and residents feel the strain
Think of Colorado and what comes to mind? Majestic mountain views; skiing, sledding, rafting, hiking and more in the Great Outdoors; alpine forests and golden plains; ample sunshine, craft beer and breathtaking sunsets. Just to scratch the surface. But the cost of living and housing affordability in Colorado has drastically increased in recent years, gradually…
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Aurora is ‘strong and getting stronger,’ mayor says in State of City speech
Aurora is “strong and getting stronger,” the city’s mayor said on Tuesday, citing successes in a new homeless navigation campus. Mayor Mike Coffman said he leaves work every Friday and goes straight to the Regional Navigation Campus, where he then sleeps in the low-barrier homeless shelter and helps serve breakfast in the morning. The navigation…
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Relaunched Lakewood Navigation Center offers shelter, resources
Once a shelter against extreme weather conditions, the Lakewood navigation center has officially opened after nearly a year of renovations, part of the city’s campaign to combat its growing homeless population. The city, in partnership with the Volunteers of America Colorado, opened the VOA Colorado Navigation Center on Friday — though the center has been…
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Aurora homeless shelter opened too early, CEO says, as mold and plumbing issues emerge
Aurora’s largest homeless services project launched “way too early,” its CEO told city leaders Tuesday, saying the rushed opening left residents living amid mold, plumbing failures, and other issues inside the former hotel. During Tuesday’s Housing, Neighborhood Services and Redevelopment Policy Committee meeting, Advance Pathways CEO Jim Goebelbecker said he didn’t think the building was…