During this May’s National Foster Care Month, One Colorado is celebrating and bringing awareness to the many Colorado organizations who provide support to foster youth and their families. Every child and teen deserves a nurturing, affirming family that provides them with a safe place to process their feelings, the freedom to express who they are, and the support they need to become responsible, healthy adults.

• CO4Kids
• Office of Child's Representative
• CoSHI
• Griffith Centers for Children
• Inside Out Youth Services
• The Place
• The House
• Urban Peak
• Adoption Options
• Denver Human Services
• Boulder County Housing and Human Services
• Heritage Camps for Adoptive Families

Please note: this is not an exhaustive list of providers in Colorado.

Foster Care in Colorado

There are currently more than 8,000 children in Colorado’s foster care system who need loving homes, and only about 2,000 foster parents. Even more so, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) young people are over-represented in foster care, juvenile justice systems, and homeless settings. Unfortunately, inappropriate placements and a lack of understanding of the needs of LGBTQ youth too often endanger their health and safety. They are at higher risk of physical violence, substance abuse, unsafe sex, and even suicide.In 2021, One Colorado was proud to work with Co-Prime Sponsors Rep. Meg Froelich, and Sens. Rhonda Fields and Sonya Jaquez Lewis to pass HB21-1072 into law to better protect LGBTQ Coloradans and their families while navigating the foster care system. Signed by Governor Polis on April 19, 2021, the bill ensures non-discrimination protections for youth within the foster care system, in addition to LGBTQ adoptive and foster parents, as well as institutes pre-and post-placement training requirements for all foster parents. HB21-1072 creates a clear pathway forward for LGBTQ couples who are seven times more likely than their different sex counterparts to be raising foster children, and additionally creates more affirming family placement opportunities for LGBTQ children and youth in need of foster care.

Further reading:

• Meet the Colorado dads who have fostered more than 60 children – RMPBS
• The number of LGBTQ foster kids is on the rise, but does Colorado have enough accepting homes? – Colorado Sun
• A Proclamation on National Foster Care Month, 2022 – The White House