Featured News: Home

As the United States and other countries around the world race to delay the spread of the COVID-19 virus, Coloradans, like millions of others around the globe, have been required to engage in a relatively new practice called “social distancing.” One must look no further than social media — where the hashtag, #StayAtHome, has been […]

County human service departments respond to 40,000 reports of possible child abuse or neglect throughout Colorado each year. Roughly 100 times a day, child protection workers serve as first responders to these reports, typically by entering families’ homes at their own risk. As the spread of COVID-19 has overwhelmed Colorado, the reports of abuse and

Thank you for coming to work today. Like many of us, you woke up this week and saw a tragedy unfolding. The world as we know it altered – off course – leaving thousands of people without basic food, shelter, and health care. Like many of us you were scared. But you showed up anyway

On average, there are more than 620 youth in custody every day in Colorado. Consistently, there are 40 to 100 youth living in each of the Division of Youth Services’ secure facilities. Because these youth are housed together – living in close proximity of each other – they are at greater risk for infection. Many

The Office of Colorado’s Child Protection Ombudsman (CPO) continues to monitor and respond to the evolving circumstances surrounding the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. As child protection agencies across Colorado respond to the rapidly changing situation, the CPO is committed to assisting children, families and agency partners to ensure services are accessible and information is provided in a timely manner.

This week, CPO Stephanie Villafuerte spoke with The Colorado Sun  and 9NEWS about our special initiative to reform the child fatality review system. This year, our agency is committed to working with stakeholders to address gaps in our state’s child fatality review system so we can reduce the number of child deaths in Colorado. “The

As an independent state agency, the CPO is charged with studying and improving the systems tasked with protecting Colorado’s children and with helping citizens navigate these systems. In order to respond to the questions and feedback we’ve received from citizens and continue improving our work and the impact it has, the CPO is dedicated to