Montezuma County has been awarded $131,500 SafeCare grant to educate low-income families of common hazards that put kids at risk.
Following a scathing investigative report by The Denver Post that showed a lack of child-welfare protocols by Front Range social service departments, money was freed up to improve child safety statewide, reports Lori Cooper, director of the Montezuma County Health Department.
"It will be a home-visit program targeting children ages 0 to 5," Cooper said. "The program focuses on safety, but also includes some parenting training."
SafeCare is an evidence-based home visitation program that has been shown to reduce child maltreatment among families with a history for abuse or neglect or who have risk factors for maltreatment.
The funding will be used to hire and train four family-care advocates, two for Montezuma County and two for La Plata county. One hundred families are targeted for the 18-week prevention program.
Families not on the welfare rolls will chosen for the Safe Care program, Cooper explained, with the hopes of providing family care services without signing up more families for social services.
"This is a brand new program that we are excited about. We were one of four counties awarded the grant," Cooper said. "For families that don't quite qualify for social services, we can offer them this."
After the first six months, depending on results, the program could be awarded another $250,000 for an additional year, and may be funded for following years.
"It is really basic safety information that benefits families using home visits," Cooper said. "Zero- to 5- year-olds are at a high risk for self injury."
Cooper added that the county was favored for the grant award because grantors appreciate the collaboration in Montezuma County between public health and social services departments.
"That cooperation is not always the case in other areas," Cooper said. "We are all working with the same families."
Child protection reform was triggered by an eight-day series titled "Failed to Death" published by the Post in cooperation with 9News. The series found that 72 of the 175 children who have died of abuse and neglect in Colorado in the past six years had families or caregivers known to child-protection workers.
Colorado dedicated an additional $22 million towards child abuse prevention programs that send nurses and social workers into troubled homes to teach parenting skills, child safety education, and to provide information about community resources.
jmimiaga@cortezjournal.com