Author: Tricia Stortz
-
Bipartisan Colorado bill targeting AI chatbot risks advances
A bipartisan Colorado bill targeting risks posed by AI chatbots has received the green light from the state House. House Bill 26-1263, which would establish new requirements for “conversational AI” services, earlier cleared the House Business Affairs and Labor Committee. The full House approved it, 40-24. Supporters say the legislation aims to address growing concerns…
-
Listening first: How Routt County’s new co-response team responds to mental health crises
When Routt County launched its new Mental Health Response Team last fall, co-response models themselves were not new to Colorado. Teams pairing law enforcement with clinicians have operated for years in Colorado Springs and across the Front Range. What is new, local leaders said, is how urgently the model has been needed in this corner…
-
Inside TRU Thrift’s Giving Room: How Boulder donations reach neighbors in need
In the back of TRU Community Care’s Thrift Shop in Boulder, past racks of winter coats and holiday decor, there’s a doorway most shoppers never notice. Step through it, and you enter the Giving Room — a bustling, volunteer-run operation where nearly nothing goes to waste and where unsold items find new purpose across Boulder…
-
Rising suicide rates prompt coordinated response in Routt and Moffat counties
Routt and Moffat counties have been going through a difficult period. Over the past few years, residents have lost neighbors, coworkers and longtime community members to suicide, losses that hit hard in places where people often know one another by first name. Last year, 10 people in Routt County and nine in Moffat County died…
-
YMHC impact at Ortega Middle School
For 12-year-old students navigating middle school in rural Colorado, challenges extend far beyond homework and social dynamics. Many face unstable housing, language barriers, and limited access to mental health resources. For them, the Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC) can be a lifeline. Berkeley Wall, a second-year YMHC member at Ortega Middle School in Alamosa, has…
-
Budget cuts threaten Youth Mental Health Corps for rural students
In rural Colorado, a single school counselor can face impossible odds. With limited staff, students in crisis are at high risk of slipping through the cracks, and having their emotional, social, and academic needs unmet. At Moffat Schools in the San Luis Valley, school counselor Sarah DeLeon knows those challenges firsthand. “School counselors can be…
-
Budget cuts threaten Youth Mental Health Corps for rural students
In rural Colorado, a single school counselor can face impossible odds. With limited staff, students in crisis are at high risk of slipping through the cracks, and having their emotional, social, and academic needs unmet. At Moffat Schools in the San Luis Valley, school counselor Sarah DeLeon knows those challenges firsthand. “School counselors can be…