The Boulder County Community Services Department (CSD) provides services, in partnership with the community, to

• Enhance quality of life;
• Support and protect our county’s community of adults, children, families and elders;
• Promote economic independence and self-sufficiency.

CSD provides evidence-based services to enhance quality of life and to support our diverse community. Understanding the trends in the department’s programming allows us to better serve the community; by being data-informed, CSD pays attention to the whole while striving to find improvements that can have the largest impact on the lives of clients.

Boulder County Area Agency on Aging (BCAAA)

Boulder County Area Agency on Aging plans, develops, coordinates, funds, advocates for, and evaluates a wide range of services for older adults, their families and their caregivers. BCAAA’s mission is to deliver, fund, and advocate for services that promote well-being, independence, and dignity for older adults, people with disabilities, family caregivers, and veterans in Boulder County.

Community Living Team

The Community Living Program is a designated Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) and manages the AAA Resource line. Our team provides other services, including:

• Caregiver Services – Resource specialists, volunteers, and contractors provide a variety of services targeted to caregivers, including respite assistance and resource coordination, as well as training and education.
• Planning and Case Coordination – Assistance for older adults age 60+ and family caregivers of older adults in locating and accessing resources and services such as housing and in-home care; navigating systems such as Social Security and/or Medicaid; completing forms and applications for various benefits, services, and programs; applying for financial support when eligible and appropriate. Available in English and Spanish.
• Resource Coordination, Resource Navigation, Transition Services – Resource Specialists conduct assessments and provide information and assistance in the areas of caregiving, respite, and long term care to individuals and families in Boulder County. Resource Navigators also provide information and referral, including navigation of services and providers, over the phone and via email. Available in English and Spanish. Transition services help eligible long-term residents of skilled nursing facilities explore community living options. They provide information and support decision-making to determine if moving back into the community is the right alternative.
• Voucher Services – include In-Home services such as Homemaking and Personal Care, as well as Personal Emergency Response services, Technology education and devices, financial assistance, home-delivered meals, and transportation.
• During the pandemic, our team was able to continue to support the community by making our services accessible via a virtual call center which allowed our Resource Specialists to continue their work in the urban and mountain areas. At the same time, we have engaged in collaborative opportunities with the Aging Network to review new and existing needs that have presented during the last two years.

Elder Rights Team

• Long-Term Care Ombudsman – this is a Federally-mandated program that advocates for people who live in assisted livings and nursing homes. Ombudsmen identify, investigate, and problem-solve residents’ concerns about care and their rights as residents. Ombudsmen assist staff in meeting the needs and concerns of residents through education and consultation. They also provide information to the community about longterm care and about local options.
• Project Visibility – a training designed for direct service providers as well as the friends and families of LGBTQ+older adults. It educates attendees about the unique experience and consideration for LGBTQ+ people in order for their services to be culturally responsive.
• Rainbow Elders – this program provides various connections for LGBTQ+ older adults to their peers, and offers services that are safe and responsive to them. This includes social and educational events as well as Rainbow Connections in which they are matched with a volunteer to provide consistent contact.
• Respite & Companion Volunteer – volunteers are paired with an older adult with whom they visit for two hours each week. This program addresses isolation of older adults and respite needs for their caregivers.
• Justice Coalition for Abuse in Later Life – implements a grant through the Department of Justice, Office for Violence Against Women. This grant will provide training for Law Enforcement and Community Partners to establish an effective, consistent community response to abuse in later life as well as services specific to survivors of abuse age 50+.

Healthy Aging Team

The Healthy Aging Team coordinates and provides crucial services to help older adults and caregivers maintain their health by identifying gaps in nutrition and food services. The team also provides wellness classes, nutrition education, nutrition counseling, food access, farm produce procurement and delivery (via Community Shared Agriculture), food safety education, meals, and oversight of meal sites.

• Medicare Basics Classes – designed for anyone wanting to understand Medicare enrollment, plans, benefits, and costs. Available in English and Spanish.
• Medicare Counseling – individual one-on-one appointments to identify ideal plans, change plans and help with Medicare denial appeals.
• Diabetes Support Groups
• Evidence-Based Wellness Classes – available in English and Spanish.
• Nutrition Counseling – with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist. Available in English and Spanish.
• Nutrition Education – available in English and Spanish.
• Nutrition Services – include funding congregate meal sites, drop shipment meals, grab-and-go meals, and shelf-stable food delivery. Procurement is done via Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) organizations.
• The team also identifies and provides access to food and food assistance programs.

Business Results Team

The Boulder County Area Agency on Aging provides leadership in assessing the strengths and needs of older adults in the region; facilitates strategic planning, convenes community conversations and encourages collaborative efforts; and advocates for policies which benefit older adults and their family caregivers. The business results team works on:

• Strategic Planning & Advocacy
• Grants Compliance & Contracts – coordinates grants compliance and oversight of grants, such as those available through the Older Americans Act and State Funds for Senior Services, with internal and external providers.
• Veteran Services – includes developing and submitting claims for benefits to the Department of Veteran Affairs. The team can also help to obtain any military records, awards, or medals.
• Coordination of service delivery data and reporting, contract development and processing, invoice payments and tracking, as well as quality assurance activities.

Community Action Programs (CAP)

Community Action Programs is an advocacy organization and offers programs such as People Engaged in Raising Leaders, the Cultural Brokers Resilience Program, Multicultural Awards Banquet, and Personal Investment Enterprise.

Boulder County CAP began in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” Today, CAP continues to advocate for and help organize programs that foster self-sufficiency for individuals, families, and people of color with low income. Boulder County CAP focuses on community organization and advocacy on low income issues.

People Engaged in Raising Leaders (PERL)

People Engaged in Raising Leaders is a training program designed to increase involvement among people of color on boards and commissions across the county. Its training goals include preparing people of color to take leadership positions on boards and commissions and ensure authentic participation, empowering people of color to participate and become more involved civically in their community, and to impart skills and inform on the tools necessary to better understand the process, structure, and make-up of boards and commissions.

Youth Leadership Academy (YLA) – Audacity to Lead

The Young Leaders Academy was developed by Workforce Boulder County and Community Action Programs to cultivate BIPOC future leaders and entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds. YLA creates a pipeline of diverse talent to a variety of sectors across Boulder County while having positive future economic implications, and improving academic and health-related outcomes for its BIPOC youth participants. YLA’s Leadership component, Audacity to Lead (developed by PERL) imparts competencies that have been created and designed to support BIPOC youth in learning more about leadership, civic engagement, and how to develop their social capital.

Personal Investment Enterprise (PIE)

The mission of Personal Investment Enterprise is to provide tools that empower people with low-income to save and build assets to strengthen their economic stability. PIE’s vision is to become a source of hope for low-income families by creating a partnership that helps them achieve their asset goals of home ownership, post-secondary education or small business capitalization.

Empathy Board Game

CAP Community Services is always looking for opportunities to engage community in conversations about poverty. The Empathy Board Game was developed to initiate dialogue about poverty through a social empathy lens. Participants are given a scenario about a family experiencing financial hardship, housing challenges, and food insecurities. The goal of the game is to come up with solutions to meet a family’s basic needs and avoid falling into a cycle of poverty.

Community Justice Services (CJS)

Boulder County Community Justice Services provides risk and needs assessment and programming to adults and youth involved in the justice system, from the pretrial period through post-sentencing. CJS programs provide options to keep clients in the community and reduce jail bed usage while providing treatment, improving safety outcomes, and reducing criminal justice costs. The mission of CJS is to address core stability, provide hope, support and safety, inspire continual growth, collaborate and empower community.

The work is guided by the following Board of County Commissioner Justice System Priorities:

• Ensure strategic and effective use of Boulder County funding in criminal justice services to reduce recidivism.
• Implement risk-based best practices in sentencing and criminal justice programming to ensure long-term public safety.
• Divert low-risk justice-involved clients with behavioral health needs from the criminal justice system, and prioritize use of jail beds by high-risk offenders.
• Provide appropriate criminogenic programming for justice-involved clients presenting a moderate-to-high level of risk.

CJS is committed to core values of courage, compassion and connection in developing our workforce to provide effective community services:

Community and Jail-Based Services

• Bond Commissioners Unit
• Pretrial Supervision Unit

CJS Supporting Services

• Justice System Volunteer Program
• Operational Services
• Research and Planning Unit
• Business Services Team

Behavioral Health Team

• Jail Education & Transition Program
• Restoring our Community
• Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program
• Bridges Court Liaison Program
• Mental Health Diversion Program
• Behavioral Health Assistance Program

CJS System Planning

• Alternative Sentencing Facility
• Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) Practice Model Project
• Overdose Data-to-Action Project
• Collaboration partners with Behavioral Health Hub Program

Alternatives to Incarceration

• Community Service Program
• Caring Crafts
• Fast Track
• Community Corrections

Supportive Juvenile Justice Programs

• Juvenile Assessment Center
• Boulder Enhanced Supervision Team
• Family Navigator
• Juvenile Assessment Center Clinician

Boulder County Head Start

Head Start is a comprehensive child development program for low-income families and children with disabilities, designed to meet the individual needs of children ages three to five through a partnership between teachers and parents. Head Start’s vision is to provide the best in public service for children and families of Boulder County through an integrated approach to school readiness. It offers educational, nutritional, health, social, and other services which enhance the social and cognitive development of children, and actively engage families in their children’s learning so they will be successful in kindergarten.

The Head Start program began in 1965 during the Johnson administration as a summer program for children in poverty entering kindergarten. The Boulder County program began offering services that first year and has been helping families since. The division currently oversees three locations: two in Lafayette, and one in the City of Boulder.

Workforce Boulder County (WfBC)

Workforce Boulder County is a comprehensive one-stop career center providing employment and training services for all job seekers and employers through a variety of programs. WfBC’s mission is to drive employment and education opportunities that enrich individual growth, economic health, and community connection, and their vision is to promote a flourishing community where everyone has abundant opportunity for meaningful employment and businesses are connected to a diverse talent pool.

Services offered by WfBC include a wide variety of no-cost services to help employers meet their recruitment goals and ensure a qualified workforce.

Service Navigation

The navigation of job seeker services includes assistance in registering for Connecting Colorado, providing limited information about unemployment insurance benefits, initial assessments, numeracy and literacy assessments, job search assistance, career coaching and career planning, case management, literacy activities, and access to WfBC programs for individualized services.

Business Services

The Business Services Team provides a robust variety of no-cost services to help employers meet their recruitment needs and develop a qualified, talented workforce. The team is focused on providing local businesses with recruitment assistance, candidate screenings and assessments, Labor Market Information (LMI), training and retention for employees, and connection to other local resources.

Adult and Dislocated Worker Program

Under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, this program provides eligible adults and dislocated workers various services in partnership with a Career Support Specialist. Clients who participate in this program receive individualized services specific to their employment and career needs, which includes assessment, career coaching and training opportunities to support reemployment.

Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA)

RESEA is a specialized program that identifies unemployment insurance benefit claimants who would most benefit from reemployment services due to their high likelihood of exhausting regular unemployment insurance benefits. This a program specific to unemployment insurance profiled clients.

Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA)

The TAA program assists individuals whose employment has been adversely affected due to jobs being impacted by foreign competition. This is done by assisting these individuals in obtaining skills, credentials, resources, and support for employment.

Career Workshops

WfBC offers a variety of virtual and in-person career workshops designed to meet the needs of anyone in the community who is looking for work, or is employed and looking to change careers or enhance skills. WfBC offers workshops such as: Career Exploration, Job Searching, Updating and Tailoring Your Resume, Interview Preparation, LinkedIn 101 and LinkedIn 201.

Computer Training Center

The Workforce Virtual Computer Training Center offers self-guided programs to help people learn a variety of computer skills including Microsoft Outlook, Access, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and many others. WfBC uses software called CustomGuide that allows people to improve their computer skills from wherever they have access to a computer and the internet. Through interactive e-learning, people can move at their own pace, select the programs they want to learn, and grow their skills and confidence.

Financial & Homeownership Workshops

WfBC offers a portfolio of 11 different financial workshops available in English and Spanish, led by certified financial trainers who are experts in budgeting, credit, debt management, and goal-setting. Under this program, WfBC offers the only Homeownership Class in Boulder County approved by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. This class helps people determine how much home they can comfortably afford, budget for the upfront and ongoing expenses of homeownership, recognize how credit relates to home buying, discover resources for down payment assistance and affordable housing, understand the different mortgage financing options, learn about real estate contracts and the loan closing process and familiarize themselves with the home inspection process.

Learning Lab – High School Equivalency Diploma

The Learning Lab is a unique, tailored program to support people in achieving their High School Diploma. The program is designed for people of all ages, with emphasis on those 16 or older that are struggling to find success in school or have already dropped out. The Learning Lab focuses on collaborative, individualized academic curriculum design, personalized tutoring, coaching and encouragement, and flexible scheduling. The Learning Lab also offers support in developing career and life goals for post-graduation. WfBC fully funds student costs for access to an online academic study program, pre-tests, and High School Equivalency Diploma tests (which includes GED and HiSET).

Young Adult Program & Young Leaders Academy

With this program, young adults (ages 16 – 24) have a Career Support Specialist working alongside them to identify career goals, develop a career plan, connect them with resources to build skills and confidence, and serve as a support to reach education and employment goals.

The Strategic Initiatives division supports the implementation of program strategies, service efforts and intergovernmental initiatives that encourage strategic alignment and service integration among related Community Services divisions, Boulder County departments, municipalities, and private funding partners. These efforts include community needs assessment, program development, performance measurement, and guidance in investment strategies.

Strategic Initiatives (SI)

The Strategic Initiatives division leads special projects within the Community Services Department, helps to improve work processes and overall performance within divisions, actively seeks out and writes grants for departmental efforts, and provides support to inter-departmental efforts that have a community-wide focus.

Specific work areas include:

Co-Responder Project

The Boulder County Co-Responder project provides behavioral health co-response with local law enforcement and the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office in unincorporated areas of Boulder County and through locally-placed staff in the Towns of Superior and Erie, and the City of Lafayette. Co-responders provide crisis intervention in the field in an effort to resolve issues on scene and connect individuals with vital services. The Project includes a Program Coordination Group (PCG) that guides program planning and implementation efforts and a Steering Committee that seeks to enact broader program and policy alignment with similar efforts operating in the county.

Homeless Solutions for Boulder County (HSBC)

HSBC is an innovative, systems-oriented approach to address the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness. It includes multiple government entities such as Boulder County and the Cities of Boulder and Longmont, housing authorities, nonprofits working to impact homelessness, and the faith community. This regional, integrated service system combines a coordinated entry process with the provision of timely, appropriate and supportive housing services to assist people with the move from homelessness into housing in the most efficient and sustainable ways possible.

Behavioral Health Planning Initiative

The Strategic Initiatives division leads an effort to develop a long-term strategic plan to guide improved behavioral health services in the county. The project is being implemented with the support of three staff involved in planning efforts relating to the use of opioid settlement dollars and the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. The creation of a behavioral health strategy will support development and long-term investment efforts to meet the County’s behavioral health needs well into the future.

Healthy Youth Alliance (HYA)

Healthy Youth Alliance is a coalition of community partnerships and county-wide agencies which promotes healthy decision-making in youth and families. HYA receives funding from the Colorado Division of Behavioral Health and the City of Boulder for separate initiatives. The organization’s current focus is to provide tools and resources for parents and caregivers to “keep talking” to their kids about tough topics related to substance use. HYA also manages the City of Boulder Substance Education and Awareness initiatives which fund area nonprofits.

Grant Writing and Management of CSD Funding Initiatives

Strategic Initiatives provides grant writing services to other divisions for state, federal and foundation grant opportunities and coordinates grant writing efforts in support of programs to increase resources available to address department and county priorities. As a part of this work, SI administers two funding efforts for the department:

• Worthy Cause Fund – a 15-year initiative passed in 2017 that allocates a portion of sales tax revenue to Boulder County nonprofit human service agencies for capital projects, including the purchase of land or buildings, construction, renovation, or debt reduction.
• Human Services Fund – SI administers this fund, which provides area non-profits with resources to address a variety of social issues.

Program Evaluation Services and Support

SI provides leadership to internal Community Services divisions, staff and projects related to professional development, client-centered business practices, data management, evaluation and reporting efforts, and cross-divisional program integration. Efforts in this area include the development of annual reports, data briefs, and tailored analytic services. Program evaluation efforts are implemented to better determine whether programs and services are meeting intended outcomes and to drive program refinements based on performance data.

Program Highlights

1. Alternative Sentencing Facility

• The Boulder County Alternative Sentencing Facility (ASF) will be a community-based, minimum security, residential facility that will house all alternative sentencing programs utilized in Boulder County. Alternative sentences are programs that allow offenders to serve their sentences in a less restrictive structure than a traditional jail or prison and can be residential or non-residential in nature. Current opening date early 2025.

2. Behavioral Health Strategic Plan

• Creation of a Long-term Strategic Behavioral Health Plan for the County
• Center planning on:
  • Equity for underserved populations
  • Improved access
  • System capacity expansion
  • Management and Evaluation

3. ARPA Mental Health and Social Resilience Project Funding and Implementation

4. Homeless Solutions for Boulder County

1. Transform workforce, processes and culture to effectively execute strategy and achieve department goals.
2. Enhance quality of life by improving social determinants of health: education, safety, income, health, environment, housing and food.
3. Provide access and opportunity to promote inclusive and socially thriving communities.
4. Provide client-centered cross-divisional and cross-departmental approaches to best assist those the department serves.

Key Performance Indicators were developed in a variety of program areas where the Community Services Department strives to make meaningful impacts in the community. These areas include developing skills and knowledge, supporting families and caregivers, connecting to community and resources, supporting a lifetime of wellness, promoting self-sufficiency and resiliency, and creating systemic change.