Posts tagged Boulder County
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.
Boulder County: Teens and adults can apply for summer jobs with Youth Corps
Jan 28th
Deadline to submit youth applications is Friday, March 29
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County residents ages 14-17 can now apply for summer jobs with the Boulder County Youth Corps. Boulder County is also hiring adults to be team leaders. Boulder County is especially in need of female Corps members and leaders.
The deadline to submit youth applications is Friday, March 29. Other positions are open until filled.
The Youth Corps will hire between 160-180 teenagers to work 30 hours per week, Monday through Thursday, from June 10 to July 31 on a variety of community service projects. Team leaders will be employed from May 29 to August 2 to work up to 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday. Projects will include such activities as forest thinning, historic preservation, construction and repair of fencing, trail maintenance, removal of Russian olive trees and noxious weeds, landscaping and replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescents. Youth Corps teams will work in unincorporated Boulder County as well as in cities and towns within Boulder County.
Applicants can apply online at www.bouldercounty.org/youthcorps. Applications can also be picked up at counseling offices in Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley schools; city and town personnel offices; most local recreation and youth centers and libraries; and the Boulder County Human Resources Department, 2025 14th St. (Boulder).
This year, Corps members will earn a starting wage of $7.78/hour, with the possibility of earning a $100 bonus at the end of the program based on merit and strong attendance. Teens who have worked for the Corps in past years can earn up to $8.28/hour. In addition, Corps members are eligible for reimbursement for the purchase of work boots and gloves. RTD bus passes for the purpose of traveling to and from centralized work meeting places may be subsidized.
Team Leaders must be high school graduates at least 21 years old with two years of college coursework or more, and Assistant Team Leaders must be high school graduates at least 18 years old, among other qualifications. A list of full qualifications is available online at www.bouldercounty.org/youthcorps. Team Leaders start at $13.50/hour and Assistant Team Leaders at $11.50/hour.
The Youth Corps offers one of the best first job opportunities available in Boulder County. Teams have completed projects such as constructing almost a mile of trail at Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat, replacing the residential fence at a Boulder County low-income housing development in Louisville, and preserving the McDonald Cabin at Betasso Preserve Open Space.
For more information, visit www.bouldercounty.org/youthcorps or call the Youth Corps office at 303-678-6104.
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Boulder County Commissioners extend moratorium on oil & gas development
Jan 24th
Temporary moratorium extended until June 10 to allow for development of Implementation Work Plan
Boulder County, Colo. – Tonight, following a public hearing on recently-adopted regulations for oil and gas development in unincorporated Boulder County, the County Commissioners voted unanimously to extend a temporary moratorium on new oil and gas drilling applications (currently set to end on Feb. 4) until June 10, 2013, and to further assess fees relative to the land use and transportation impacts of local oil and gas operations.
Expressing both a desire to see more work around developing renewable energy options for Boulder County and seeking support from county residents to take their concerns about oil and gas development to state legislators who are currently considering new state rules for drilling operations, the County Commissioners acknowledged that while they don’t think they can go far enough to satisfy all constituent concerns, they are doing everything they can to make sure “we have the most comprehensive and restrictive regulations around oil and gas drilling in the State of Colorado.“
County staff had requested an extension of the Temporary Moratorium on Boulder County’s Processing of Applications for Oil and Gas Development in order to develop a plan to implement the regulations adopted by the Board of County Commissioners in December 2012. Due to the complicated nature of the new restrictions, requirements, standards and conditions that replaced 19-year-old rules for how oil and gas development can occur on unincorporated lands, staff had asked for adequate time to create an Implementation Work Plan.
County staff also presented information from the Oil & Gas Roadway Impact Study to seek direction from the County Commissioners on how to ensure impacts of oil and gas development on the public transportation system are mitigated and the cost of such mitigation is fairly and equitably allocated. Actual fees were not considered for adoption at the hearing, but the Commissioners asked staff to come back in two to three months with a proposal for the maximum legally-defensible fees allowable to mitigate local impacts or an alternate mechanism to recover costs from industry’s impact on the county transportation system.
Staff estimated – and County Commissioners affirmed – that in order to prepare for processing of new drilling and well operation applications, four additional months were necessary. The major components of the Implementation Work Plan will include:
· Development of RFQ/RFP and hiring of consultants / outside expertise
· Staff trainings
· Coordination with involved departments and agencies
· Preparation of application materials, handouts, and public information including website
· Development and adoption of planning and permit fees
· Inspection schedules
· Updating internal databases and tracking systems
· Coordination with Industry on submission of applications
· Coordination with the COGCC to harmonize new State rules with County regulations
For more information about the county’s role in oil and gas development, visit the county’s Oil and Gas Development webpage or contact Jim Webster at 720-564-2600 or jbwebster@bouldercounty.org.
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