Youth Services & Opportunity

The Problem

Colorado has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the nation. Suicide is the leading cause of death for Colorado youth ages 10-24, with rates 58% above the national average (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 2023). In Denver Public Schools, chronic absenteeism reached 38% in the 2022-23 school year, meaning more than one in three students missed 10% or more of school days (DPS Accountability Reports). The counselor-to-student ratio in DPS is approximately 1:350, well above the American School Counselor Association’s recommended 1:250 maximum. For many Denver youth, the adults tasked with supporting their mental health and academic success are stretched impossibly thin.

Youth violence remains a crisis. Denver saw 75 juvenile victims of gun violence in 2023 (Denver Police Department crime data). Black youth are disproportionately affected: while Black residents make up approximately 9% of Denver’s population, Black youth represent a dramatically higher share of both victims and contacts with the juvenile justice system. Latino youth face similar disproportionate contact. The school-to-prison pipeline remains intact: Denver schools referred hundreds of students to law enforcement annually, disproportionately students of color, for offenses that could be handled through restorative practices.

An estimated 12-15% of Denver youth ages 16-24 are “disconnected,” neither in school nor employed (Measure of America, Youth Disconnection series). These are young people falling through every crack in every system. Summer job programs exist but reach a fraction of demand. Denver’s youth employment programs serve roughly 2,000-3,000 teens per summer in a city with over 40,000 high school age residents. After-school programming is concentrated in wealthier neighborhoods, and many rec center youth programs have fees or waitlists that put them out of reach for the families that need them most.

What Denver Currently Does

Denver runs several youth-focused initiatives through the Department of Public Health and Environment and Denver Human Services. The city’s youth employment programs provide summer and year-round job placements, though capacity serves only a small fraction of eligible youth. Denver’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative focuses on improving outcomes for boys and young men of color. The STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) program responds to behavioral health crises citywide and has been shown by a 2026 Urban Institute evaluation to reduce subsequent arrests and police contacts by 16%, but it is not specifically youth-focused - the average STAR client is 44 years old - and operates limited hours.

DPS operates school-based health centers at some schools and has expanded social-emotional learning programming. The Gang Rescue and Support Project (GRASP) provides intervention services but operates on a small budget relative to need. Denver Parks & Recreation offers the My Denver card providing free recreation center access for youth 5-18 and adults 60+, which is a meaningful program but does not address the deeper needs for mentorship, employment, mental health support, and safe spaces.

Denver’s youth violence prevention efforts are fragmented across multiple city agencies and nonprofit partners without a unified strategy or adequate funding. The city has invested in some community-based violence intervention but at a scale far below what the evidence supports is necessary for measurable impact.

Our Solution

1. Guaranteed Summer Employment

• City-funded summer jobs for every Denver teen 14-18 who wants one
• Target: 10,000+ positions per summer (current programs serve roughly 2,000-3,000)
• Placements in city government, nonprofits, small businesses, parks, and libraries
• $15+/hr minimum with financial literacy training component
• Mentorship: every youth paired with an adult mentor
• Priority outreach to disconnected youth and neighborhoods with highest violence rates
• Modeled on Boston’s SuccessLink (30+ year track record) and NYC Summer Youth Employment Program (100,000+ placements/year)

2. Year-Round Youth Centers

• Dedicated youth center in every council district (11 centers)
• Open after school, evenings, and weekends, with hours designed around when youth actually need safe spaces
• Programming: homework help, arts, music production, sports, coding, career exploration, cooking
• Free meals and snacks at every center
• Mental health counselors on-site
• Youth-designed programming: advisory board at each center decides activities and priorities
• Safe, affirming space for LGBTQ+ youth

3. Youth Advisory Council with Budget Authority

• Citywide Youth Advisory Council (ages 14-24), elected by Denver youth
• Real budget authority: allocate $5M/year through youth-led participatory budgeting
• Formal advisory role on all city policies affecting young people
• Paid positions for council members (stipends, not volunteer-only)
• Elections held in schools, rec centers, and community organizations to ensure broad participation
• Cross-reference: participatory budgeting policy

4. School-Based Mental Health

• Licensed mental health counselor in every DPS school (elementary through high school)
• Target ratio: 1 counselor per 250 students (meeting ASCA recommendations)
• Trauma-informed care training for all school staff, not just counselors
• Peer counseling programs with trained student supporters
• Crisis intervention teams available to all schools within 30 minutes
• Culturally responsive services: multilingual counselors reflecting student demographics
• Destigmatization campaigns designed and led by students themselves

5. Youth Violence Intervention

• Community-based violence intervention using the credible messenger model (people with lived experience, from affected communities)
• Hospital-based intervention for youth victims to prevent retaliation cycles
• Conflict resolution and restorative justice in schools as the default response (not suspension/expulsion)
• Gang intervention and exit programs with housing, employment, and counseling support
• Youth diversion: keep young people out of the juvenile justice system through community-based accountability
• Cross-reference: public safety policy

6. Career Pathways & Apprenticeships

• City-facilitated apprenticeships in trades, healthcare, technology, and creative industries
• Pre-apprenticeship programs for youth 16-18 (paid training, not unpaid)
• GED and credential support for disconnected youth
• Partnerships with community colleges, trade schools, and Denver employers
• Earn-while-you-learn: no young person should have to choose between income and education

International Evidence: Invest in Youth, Reduce Crime

Country/City	Model	Result
Finland	Youth Guarantee: every person under 25 offered employment, education, or training within 3 months of becoming unemployed. Universal access to youth services.	Youth unemployment consistently among lowest in Europe. Youth services treated as investment, not expense.
Germany	Dual apprenticeship system: 70% of youth enter structured apprenticeships combining classroom and paid on-the-job training.	Youth unemployment under 6%, one of the lowest in the world. 70% of apprentices hired permanently by their training company.
Boston, USA	SuccessLink summer jobs program operating for 30+ years. City-funded, placing thousands of teens in summer employment annually.	Research demonstrates direct correlation between summer employment and reduced youth violence. Program is a model for urban youth investment nationwide.
Medellín, Colombia	Massive youth investment in the most violent neighborhoods: education, arts, libraries, job training, public spaces. Youth programming was central to the city’s transformation strategy.	Went from the murder capital of the world to a global model of urban renewal. Youth programs were the foundation of the turnaround.
Scotland	Whole-system approach to youth justice: community-based alternatives, early intervention, restorative justice, age of criminal responsibility raised to 12.	Youth imprisonment down 83% since 2008. Youth crime dropped dramatically. Proves that investing in alternatives works better than punishment.

Investing in youth is the single highest-return public investment a city can make. Every dollar spent on quality youth programs returns $7-10 in reduced incarceration (Heckman & Masterov, 2007; Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2020) ($60,000+/year per juvenile in Colorado), reduced healthcare costs, increased lifetime earnings, and increased tax revenue. Punishment is expensive and doesn’t work. Prevention is cheaper and does.

How We Pay For It

• Summer jobs program: $15-20M/year (10,000 jobs x 8 weeks x $15/hr + administration and mentorship)
• Youth centers (11): $10-15M/year operations (capital costs from bond measure, phased over 4 years)
• Youth advisory council budget: $5M/year (youth-directed participatory budgeting)
• School mental health: $8-12M/year (city supplement to DPS and state funding)
• Violence intervention: $5-8M/year (cross-reference public safety budget reallocation)
• Career pathways: $3-5M/year
• Total: $50-65M/year
• Offset: Colorado spends $60,000+/year per incarcerated juvenile. Keeping 200 young people out of detention saves $12M/year. The math overwhelmingly favors prevention over punishment.

Frequently Asked Questions

“This is DPS’s responsibility, not the city’s.” Youth spend more waking hours outside school than in it. The city has a direct interest in youth outcomes. Youth violence, homelessness, unemployment, and mental health are city problems regardless of who runs the schools. DPS funding alone is insufficient, and the city can supplement where schools cannot reach.

“Summer jobs programs are make-work.” Decades of rigorous evidence disagree. Boston’s SuccessLink program shows summer employment reduces violent crime arrests by 35% among participants. NYC’s SYEP serves 100,000+ youth and demonstrates improved academic outcomes and work readiness. These are real jobs building real skills with measurable public safety benefits.

“Youth don’t want to participate in these programs.” Demand for existing Denver youth employment programs exceeds supply every year. When programs are high-quality and youth-designed, participation is overwhelming. The barrier is access and availability, not interest.

“Youth advisory councils are performative.” Most are, because they have no power. Ours has $5M/year in real budget authority through participatory budgeting. When young people control real resources, they engage meaningfully. The difference between a photo op and genuine youth power is whether the budget is real.

“Violence intervention is soft on crime.” Community-based violence intervention reduces violent crime more effectively than incarceration, which has 70%+ recidivism rates for juveniles. Credible messenger programs in cities like New York and Chicago have reduced shootings by 30-60% in target areas. Being smart on crime means investing in what actually works, not what sounds tough.

References

• Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. (2023). Youth suicide data. (Leading cause of death ages 10-24; 58% above national average.)
• Denver Public Schools. (2023). Accountability and chronic absenteeism reports. (38% chronic absenteeism rate.)
• American School Counselor Association. Recommended counselor-to-student ratio: 1:250.
• Denver Police Department. (2023). Juvenile victim and crime data.
• Measure of America. Youth Disconnection series. (Disconnected youth rates by metro area.)
• Boston Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development. SuccessLink program data and evaluation.
• NYC Department of Youth and Community Development. Summer Youth Employment Program reports.
• Colorado Division of Youth Services. (2023). Cost per juvenile in detention.