youth
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Colorado House gives final approval to bills on occupancy limits, foster youth ‘bill of rights’
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The Colorado House on Friday gave final approval to two major proposals dealing with housing and youth in the foster care system with a few defections among Democrats. House Bill 1007 would block local governments from imposing residential occupancy limits except for public health and safety reasons. The House had debated HB 1007 on Feb.…
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Rewritten bill strips out Colorado’s effort to increase minimum age to criminally charge kids
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For the second year in a row, Colorado legislators passed a proposal originally intended to stop charging children under 13 with most crimes. But the legislation is once again heading to Gov. Jared Polis’ desk without that key provision. The minimum age for criminal prosecution in Colorado is 10. As drafted, House Bill 1249 sought to raise the…
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As 1 in 10 Coloradans experience eating disorders, lawmakers consider action | COVER STORY
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When she was 15 years old, Aimee Resnick’s eating disorder nearly killed her. Resnick said she was teased and bullied for being “bigger” than her peers throughout middle school and early high school. So, when a health class assignment required Resnick to set a weight loss goal and track her daily calorie consumption, she quickly…
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House Democrats OK substance abuse intervention for Colorado middle, high schools
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A proposal crafted by teenagers that seeks to offer substance abuse intervention guidelines to Colorado schools received approval on Wednesday from the state House. If passed into law, House Bill 1009 would create a committee tasked with developing best practices for middle and high schools to identify students who need substance use treatment, offer intervention and refer the…
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Eating disorders, school discipline, substance abuse among proposals Colorado teens seek to advance
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Teenagers from the Colorado Youth Advisory Council are pursuing three new state policies to address substance abuse, eating disorders and disciplinary actions in schools. The council on Friday presented the proposed bills to lawmakers, who voted to advance and send them to a legislative council meeting on Oct. 4 to determine if the bills would go…
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Voter turnout dips among youth, rises for elderly in Colorado primary election
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This year’s primary election saw the lowest turnout of young voters since Colorado began tracking primary voter ages in 2018, with experts speculating the two major parties are failing to engage the youth. Only 4.3% of the 1.235 million ballots cast last month were from Coloradans age 24 or younger, according to data from the…
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Polis signs bill to create 125 more behavioral health beds
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Gov. Jared Polis signed into law Wednesday a measure that sets the stage for creating at least 125 more inpatient beds for Coloradans with severe mental illnesses. The law, passed with overwhelming support in both the House and Senate, requires the human services and health departments to “create, develop or contract” at least 125 new…
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With mental health needs in crisis, will a new state agency help?
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Mental health services, far outstripped by the need for both youth and adults, are the focus of a new state agency being created within the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS). The new agency, which will be known as the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA), is to be housed, until at least 2024, within CDHS. The…
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COVER STORY | Kids’ mental health challenged in a culture of guns
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Dec. 14 marks nine years since Jane Dougherty told her sister hello and goodbye, but for a disturbed young man’s access to guns in Newtown, Connecticut, a New England village that was decked out for a Christmas, that was emotionally obliterating. Her older sister, Mary Sherlach, a school psychologist, was in the principal’s office that…
