State of Colorado is sitting on land, money and buildings that could help kids with severe mental illness or adults who live on the street
As hundreds of kids with behavioral health needs languish in county offices, hotels, and emergency rooms, a state-owned residential treatment center is sitting empty.
Two years ago, the legislature decided to close Ridge View Youth Services Center - a 500 bed campus located on a 100 acres in rural Arapahoe County - as the youth mental health crisis escalated.
"It's just devastating to me that there were beds available for youth to be able to be there, there was staff that was available, and all that has just gone away," says former Sen. Nancy Todd.
She's among those who fought to keep Ridge View open amid a push by the federal government to de-institutionalize kids and a push by Gov. Jared Polis to convert the youth treatment center it into a homeless recovery center.
"It leaves our youth in a lurch," says Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet.
She voted against a bill allocating $45 million to repurpose Ridge View but it passed.
A year and a half later, construction has yet to begin. The money, the land and the buildings sit vacant as more people live on the street and more kids with behavioral health needs go untreated. Some parents are so desperate they're surrendering custody of their kids to get them help.
Todd says Ridge View should be reopened for kids.
"If this is a crisis and we're serious about it and we have a facility that is sitting there empty, what is the hold up?" she asked.
While Michaelson Jenet has passed bills over the last couple years approving $450 million to open new residential treatment beds, she's still waiting for them to come online.
"I'm just told it takes time. Well, we don't have time. Our kids don't have time. We stood up COVID in a minute. This is an emergency. This is a crisis for our youth," Jenet said.
The Department of Human Services says there are about three hundred residential treatment beds left here. It is working to open 33 more beds but hasn't said when that will happen.
Todd says the state can and must do better.
"It's a matter of, is this a priority or are we just going to talk about it and say, 'oh well in 2025, we'll have something open?' Meanwhile, how many kids will we lose?" Todd asked.
The Department of Local Affairs - which is in charge of converting Ridge View into a homeless campus - says Human Services had oversight of it until just this month - two years after it closed and year and a half after money for the remodel was approved.
DOLA says it will be another year before it's open to the homeless.
The legislature also approved $50 million for a second homeless recovery campus in the Denver area last year but the state hasn't even identified the land for that yet.
