Posts tagged Human Services
Child Protection Recruitment Team Needs Representative
May 6th
Boulder County is seeking a community representative to serve on the Child Protection Review Team to help protect Boulder County’s children.
The Child Protection Review Team is a group of professional and community representatives who reviews child protection cases. The community representative will help review diagnostic, prognostic and treatment services available to the child and family. The Team also serves in an advisory capacity to the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services.
Applicants should be able to objectively and confidentially review cases. Have the ability to process emotionally charged information and be able to follow confidentiality protocol. For this vacant seat, preference will be given to applicants who are parents, stepparents, grandparents, foster parents, etc.
The Community Representative will need to be able to meet for up to two hours per week during a one year commitment.
Those interested should contact Diane Ludwig at 303-441-4994 for more information and for an application.
Source: Boulder County
Rental Matching Service Available for Displaced Boulder County Residents
Oct 2nd
Collaboration will help address shortage of rental housing supply
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County residents displaced by the recent flooding now have another tool to help them find available rental housing. A regional service that matches renters with property owners is working with residents to place them in short-term rental units, and is waiving most of its fees for the matching service.
Boulder County, the cities of Boulder and Longmont, Foothills United Way, and Housing Helpers partnered to create and roll out the rental housing plan. Housing Helpers is working with property owners and has identified about 60 units that would work as short-term solutions for those in need to continue to live in or near Boulder County.
“We know there’s not much rental housing available in Boulder County for our neighbors who’ve been displaced by the flooding, especially those who don’t yet know when they can return to their homes” said Jeff Yegian, Acting Manager of the City of Boulder’s Division of Housing. “This is a solution for some of them, and we want to encourage those residents most in need to get in touch now to find out more.”
Residents impacted by the flooding who are seeking short-term rental housing can contact Housing Helpers by phone at 303-545-6000 or on the web at www.HousingHelpers.com to see if they qualify for the service. Property owners offering short-term rental options for individuals or families displaced by the flooding are encouraged to call Housing Helpers to list their property at no charge. Additional information on housing resources, including financial assistance that may be available for short-term housing, can be found at www.BoulderCountyFlood.org, www.BoulderFloodInfo.net, and www.LongmontOEM.com.
“We still want our neighbors to know that most of the available rental housing is located outside Boulder County, mostly to our south and east,” said Frank Alexander, Director of the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services. “Regardless of whether people look for rentals through this matching service or on their own, we hope that they do it right away and that they understand it might be necessary to relocate outside the area for some time.”
Boulder County Selected for Innovative Child Welfare Program
Feb 10th
State to provide substantial assistance for county’s preventive approach to child welfare
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County will soon join in an expansion of a visionary approach to child welfare that stabilizes families and helps keep children safe. The Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) sent notification this week that in spring 2013 the state will begin providing assistance to the county in the form of training, coaching, technical assistance, and meetings to enhance the quality of the county’s Differential Response (DR) initiative.
Differential Response is an evidence-based approach to child welfare that involves identifying cases that are lower risk and partnering with the families to get them the help they need, rather than treating all cases in the same way. Boulder County has been using a more collaborative approach with families since 2009, and has seen tremendous success in its child welfare outcomes as a result.
“Children do best with their families when appropriate safety exists,” said Kit Thompson, director of the Family and Children Services Division of the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services. “What we’ve found is that by strengthening families, we give them the best chance to provide a safe, stable home for their children.”
Research indicates the Differential Response approach leads to families receiving more help sooner, which results in sustained child safety and improved family engagement. DR also helps ensure that families who need much closer attention in cases of abuse or neglect have those resources available to them.
The Colorado Consortium on Differential Response, a group of five counties in partnership with CDHS, has been working to implement DR across the state since 2010.
“Studying and implementing Differential Response allowed us to redefine the values and mission of our child protection work and challenged us to alter our daily thinking about how to collaborate with families, our community, and one another,” said Angela Lytle, Children Youth and Family Services division manager for the Arapahoe County Department of Human Services. Arapahoe County has seen tremendous success with Differential Response, and Lytle has been a strong advocate for expanding the practice statewide. “Congratulations to Colorado for demonstrating the courage to take this innovative work and expand it with diligence and fidelity to best meet the needs of Colorado families,” she said.
Boulder County will develop its own implementation plan for the DR expansion in partnership with the state and other counties currently involved in the pilot. Other counties in the expansion include Adams, Chaffee, Denver, La Plata, San Juan, Lincoln, Mesa, and Otero. A second round of counties will join the expansion in fall 2013.
