The Office of the Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman (CPO) published a brief detailing its study of how staff at the Division of Youth Services’ youth centers are conducting strip searches of youth in their care. That study revealed concerns that these invasive searches are not always done in accordance with DYS policy and do not always reveal the presence of contraband.
Download the full issue brief HERE.
The CPO reviewed a sample of strip searches conducted by DYS staff between 2023 and 2025. The review of that sample – totaling 1,009 searches – showed that, on average, these searches result in the identification of contraband approximately 10% of the time. Additionally, the CPO’s review of those 1,009 searches found that staff conducting the searches violated DYS policy 1,006 times. These violations include a lack of documented approvals from youth center administrators, only one staff member conducting the search when two are required to be present and unclear documentation of the reason for the search and the results. In some instances, multiple violations occurred in a single search.
The brief recognizes changes the DYS made to its policies in March 2024. However, in reviewing search logs completed after the DYS policies were amended, the CPO found the revised policies were still not being followed. Searches were still not being consistently authorized or documented per DYS policy.
Additionally, the CPO’s review of these revised policies revealed that there is still no effective oversight to ensure these searches were completed or documented properly. Because of this, the CPO remains concerned that there is a lack of oversight regarding how these searches are conducted – including a lack of reviews as to whether the searches were justified and if the search was the appropriate method to address the concern.
The brief also lists a series of recommendations to address this issue, including the release of a public report detailing how often youth residing in DYS are strip searched and developing more effective methods for documenting when searches are done.