Adams County leaders unveil new shelter for Colorado kids experiencing homelessness, other crises

A new shelter facility in Adams County will now be serving young people in the community facing crises.  

"In a year and a half, two years, you're getting to see the final product, and it's gorgeous," said Rick Doucet, CEO of the Community Reach Center. "And what it'll do for the kids is amazing."  

On Monday, leaders with the county, the city of Thornton and District Attorney Brian Mason with the 17th Judicial district, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Empowerment Center for Adolescents, the first-of-its-kind youth crisis shelter in the county. It will serve ages 12-17 in Adams and Broomfield Counties that are referred to the center.    

"It took some courage from some folks to make this happen and I want to thank the citizens and residents of Thornton," said Mason.

Money from the American Rescue Plan Act -- $1.2 million -- was used to create the youth center. Mason says it's a resource that became apparent the city needed after realizing young people did not have a safe space to go.   

"Shortly after I became the district attorney in 2021, we got a call from the Thornton police department, that they had picked up a young woman, who had been the victim of human trafficking. This young woman had done nothing wrong, she had not committed a crime, and yet we had no place for her to go," said Mason.   

The facility has six bedrooms and 10 beds, the maximum number of kids the shelter can support at this time. Staff will work around the clock with kids who are referred to the center, and they may stay up to 21 days.

"A place to go, a place where they feel like they're welcomed, a place where they can get the services that they need if they need them," said Doucet. "And people working with them to get them into a more permanent living situation.  

A young person's experience in the shelter will be catered to their needs. Case management will be on-site, and the center will work with other agencies and resources to help support their transition into permanent housing.  

"We hope to get kids before they become involved the criminal justice system," said District Attorney Brian Mason.  

 Mason says this facility will not only help support kids across the community, but it will also make the community safer.  

"Some young people, for whatever reason, find themselves on the streets.  They've been kicked out of their home," said Mason. "Something's happened at school, and when they're on the streets before they actually become a victim or before they commit a crime, in order to feed themselves, or before they join a gang because they need a support network, we have to have a place for them to go, and we didn't have that and now we do. " 

For kids who've been kicked out, displaced from their homes, and or living in unsafe conditions, law enforcement says a temporary stay at the center could also prevent young people from becoming involved in crime.  

"Because we already know that once they're involved. it is highly likely that they'll be repeat clients," said Thornton Police Chief Terrence Gordon.

Referrals will happen through police making contact with these individuals experiencing a crisis, and or through the community's help in identifying kids in crisis when they see them on the street.

"When law enforcement stops or has contact with a young person and they haven't committed a crime," said Mason. "So, they're not actually going to the police station to get interviewed for something that they've done, they're not going to youth detention center, but they can't go home."

Mason added, "It's also something that if a member of our community, sees a young person on the streets who clearly is in need of help, then you can call 911 or call your local police station."

The Empowerment Center for Adolescents will begin taking referrals for their shelter as early as tomorrow.

There are some exclusions to who can be housed in the center, which include kids who are in the custody of the Department of Homeland Security, those charged with any violent offense, those with an acute mental health presentation and anyone who's currently aggressive or combative.