Centennial BOCES: Helping Migrant Families Thrive

The Centennial Board of Cooperative Educational Services (Centennial BOCES) administers the largest Migrant Education Program (MEP) in Colorado, serving over 2,500 students in North Central and Northeast school districts and communities. Centennial BOCES secured RISE funding to address the unique needs of families in rural communities exacerbated by the pandemic (see earlier story). The Colorado […]

Montrose County School District: Supporting Student Wellness and Engagement

Montrose County School District directed RISE funds toward strengthening their Student Wellness and Engagement (SWE) program, building a tiered system of support to ensure students have their social-emotional needs met. The RISE funding supported the district in its work to develop a referral process and support systems to increase access to mental health resources in […]

Denver-area Charter Schools: Infusing Social-Emotional Learning in Summer Programs

With the support of a RISE grant, six Denver-area charter schools delivered summer programs that included academic, social-emotional, and experiential components (see earlier story). The Colorado Lab created a learning community to support these schools in sharing best practices and identifying and testing solutions to emerging challenges. In August, school leaders came together for the […]

Colorado District Attorneys (DA) Launch Data Dashboards

Pictured above: Some of the members of the Colorado Prosecutorial Dashboards project at the History Colorado Center following the press conference announcing the launch of data dashboards, including (left to right), Arnold Hanum with Colorado District Attorneys’ Council, Jo Beletic and Lauren Gase with the Colorado Lab, Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty, Christian Gardner-Wood with […]

Public Launch of Prosecutorial Data Dashboards

Collaborative Statement Issued by Eight Colorado District Attorneys As elected District Attorneys, both Republican and Democrat across rural and urban districts, we believe robust data is needed to identify and prioritize the actions we can take to improve community safety, the justice system, reduce disparities, and make sure we are treating defendants and victims fairly. […]

Letter to the Editor: Applauding work by DAs

The Colorado Lab’s Dr. Lauren Gase and Loyola University Chicago’s Dr. Don Stemen submitted a letter to the editor in response to a July 27, 2022 article entitled “Black, Hispanic and homeless people face discrimination.” The response references work on the Colorado Prosecutorial Dashboards project.  Letter to the Editor: Applauding work by DAs Article: Black, Hispanic […]

Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel: Promoting Steps 1 and 2 of Building Evidence

The Colorado Lab is partnering with the Office of Respondent Parents’ Counsel (ORPC) to build evidence for their model of interdisciplinary team representation. Interdisciplinary team representation pairs an attorney with a social worker or parent advocate to address root causes of child welfare involvement, promote long-term family strengthening, and protect the fundamental right to parent. […]

Family First Annual Strategy Report

The aim of Family First in Colorado is to support child welfare-involved families receiving evidence-based services and support that help to keep children safe and more families together. Our new Evidence-building for Family First: Rigorous Evaluation Annual Report provides ongoing guidance to ensure strategic investments in evidence-building for services and programs positioned to meet the needs […]

Early Childhood Stabilization Grant

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) received over $465 million in American Rescue Plan Act and Child Care Development Fund funds to strengthen and expand the early childhood sector in Colorado and ensure all children have access to high-quality child care. CDEC is partnering with the Colorado Lab to build data collection and evaluation […]

Imagination Library Impact Evaluation

Cover photo: Dolly Parton reads to children at The Library of Congress. Photo courtesy of Jake Tate; CPR News Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is inspiring a love of reading for children in Colorado, across the U.S. and around the globe. The nonprofit provides books at no cost to families with young children (0-5 years old) […]