County departments receive national recognition for projects

In Colorado, the law requires Judges to use risk-assessment information in their daily decision making when setting bond and pretrial release conditions for certain new arrestees. The Colorado Pretrial Assessment Tool (“CPAT”) is an empirically based pretrial risk-assessment tool developed in 2012 to inform bond decisions. The tool measures a defendant’s risk of failure to appear (FTA) for court or new arrest while on pretrial release status. In 2017, Weld County, Colorado, government officials via its Department of Justice Services, approached Drs. Victoria Terranova and Kyle Ward, with the University of Northern Colorado’s (UNC) Criminology and Criminal Justice Department, with the idea to examine and statistically validate the current CPAT and consider constructing and piloting a revised version of this tool. Work began to develop an initial framework and Weld County staff worked to bring in six (6) additional Colorado counties into what would become a funded research project. The study was completed between January 2018 and June 2020 and the Colorado Pretrial Assessment Tool – Revised (“CPAT-R”) was developed.

In Weld County, we’re transforming the way we support children and families when potential out-of-home placement becomes necessary. Our Kinship Program is at the forefront of innovation, utilizing a Human Centered Design to ensure every child and family gets the responsive and personalized care they deserve. We’ve redefined “the system” by operating our Kinship Program using a “prevention first” model. This model involves a partnership between two Human Services divisions, Child Welfare and Family Resource, with Family Resource Crisis Services Caseworkers (CSC) taking on initial responsibility for assessing and supporting potential kinship caregivers instead of pursuing traditional foster care. CSC’s are certified Child Welfare Caseworkers but because they are part of the Family Resource Division, they are closely connected to team members who have expertise in a variety of community and internal resources which are often needed by kinship caregivers. CSC’s are able to help families quickly access necessary resources such as food, medical, financial, childcare, transportation and mental/behavioral health resources. On average, CSC’s remain involved with kinship families around 60 days, but will stay involved as long as needed to ensure all immediate needs are met in order to provide care for relative children.

Introducing the Teamwork Innovation Growth Hope and Training (TIGHT) program, a game-changer for Child Welfare-involved opportunity youth. TIGHT empowers youth and young adults (typically between the ages of 14-17) with education and community-based projects, helping them remain or transition to the lowest level of care, and even eliminating the need for out-of-home placement. Modeled after the traditional Youth Corps models often evident within AmeriCorps programs, TIGHT affords the opportunity for youth to earn a modest incentive for their positive involvement, fostering educational growth in parallel to developing work maturity skills. TIGHT’s success is driven by creative funding leveraging Child Welfare Block Grants, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds. Weld County has expanded TIGHT to include summer crews to further support parents and guardians providing intentional oversight and supervision while school is out of session. TIGHT has proven to be a successful solution creating brighter futures for youth and communities alike.

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout revealed the efficacy of "pop-up" vaccination clinics in reaching vulnerable populations, facilitated by strategic community partnerships. Following this success, attention turned to rising rates of Syphilis, HIV, and declining vaccine compliance in Weld County. In response, the public health department expanded its outreach efforts, notably increasing the frequency of "pop-up" clinics for STI testing and immunizations from six to eight annually to a remarkable 97 events within a year. By fostering collaborations with schools, libraries, employers, and other community stakeholders, the initiative effectively addressed resource challenges while prioritizing the needs of high-risk and hard-to-reach individuals. The program's resounding success garnered support for a Mobile Clinical Unit as part of the county's Strategic Plan, reflecting a commitment to further expanding community engagement and healthcare accessibility. This innovative Clinical Outreach strategy not only swiftly responded to pressing public health concerns but also laid a robust foundation for sustainable, community-centered healthcare delivery. Through proactive measures and collaborative partnerships, the department demonstrated its dedication to addressing evolving health needs and ensuring equitable access to vital healthcare services within the community.

With job shortages still permeating the workforce in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw an opportunity to light the way for talented people to join Weld County Government — to find their passion and their purpose with us. In 2023, the public- and employee-facing Human Resources webpages were rebranded, a Join Our Team section was added to the external website for people to learn about what it’s like to work for Weld County Government and find job opportunities, and a Welcome to Our Team section was added on our employee intranet to give employees a virtual tour of what it means to work at Weld County Government, reiterating benefits, and connecting them to important Information Technology and payroll resources. A companion booklet was created to provide a snapshot of benefits and HR divisions and is handed out at New Hire Orientations. Finally, the county’s LinkedIn was launched to showcase benefits, job openings, and achievements of current employees. In the past year, the rebranding and upgraded recruiting efforts have produced fruitful results in garnering the lowest number of job openings in recent years.

During emergency events, time is of the essence, and it is imperative for residents in impacted areas to receive emergency alert notifications and information in an expedited manner. Every year, the Weld County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Weld County Regional Communications Center (WCRCC – dispatch) coordinate a test notification alert that is sent to all registered phone numbers in the notification system database. In late 2022, the Weld County Public Information and Communications Department was asked to help develop public outreach information and strategies to provide residents with information about the notification system and to encourage residents to register their cell phone number in the system. The result of the work of the Public Information and Communications team was a comprehensive communication plan launched in 2023 that increased registrants, enabled the public to be better informed and confident in their understanding of county emergency alerts, and decreased time county staff had to spend answering multiple phone calls from residents following the alert notification.