TGTHR, a nonprofit serving unhoused youth, has temporarily closed its shelter and residential treatment program after being directed by the state to pause operations following a licensing audit. The audit found the organization was out of compliance with requirements related to employee background checks and qualifications, according to TGTHR.
The closure, which began Monday, April 21, affects The Source — a 16-bed shelter for people ages 12 to 21 — and Chase House, a residential treatment program for kids. The organization was unable to provide a precise timeline for when the programs will reopen. The closure may last days or weeks.
Annie Bacci, CEO of TGTHR, said all residents were offered alternative accommodations, such as The Landing in Loveland, or the homes of friends and guardians. But five young people were without shelter following the closure.
“The risk of having to so quickly remove the youth — and just the disruption and the trauma that comes with that for young people that are already navigating a lot of trauma — is very difficult,” Bacci told Boulder Reporting Lab.
To come back into compliance with state licensing requirements, Bacci said more than a dozen employees are being fingerprinted. She said the employees had received background checks, but due to a logistical issue with the vendor, the results were not linked to the state’s records. The state is also reviewing their resumes to verify qualifications related to experience and education, she said.
The audit did not stem from any incidents involving youth safety, Bacci said.
TGTHR’s affordable housing sites — Nest56 in Denver and 1440 Pine Street in Boulder — remain open. The organization’s street outreach team also continues to operate.
The Source also functioned as a drop-in center where young people could access meals, showers and case management. TGTHR is temporarily operating its drop-in center at 1440 Pine Street.
The Colorado Department of Human Services, which oversees licensing, identified the compliance issues during a recent facility visit. Those issues included incomplete or missing background checks and training documentation, according to Julie Popp, a spokeswoman for CDHS.
“State law requires programs that care for children and youth meet strict safety and quality standards — including background checks that must be cleared before staff begin work,” Popp said. “All facilities must comply with state law to keep youth safe and ensure consistent standards across child care facilities.”
The closure comes at a time of financial stress for homelessness services in Boulder County. Earlier this week, All Roads — the city’s largest adult shelter — reduced its bed capacity from 180 to 160 due to a drop in county funding, according to the organization. Meanwhile, federal funding for permanent supportive housing, which couples affordable housing with support services to help people stay housed, is also on the chopping block.
With the temporary closure of Chase House, TGTHR will not receive Medicaid reimbursements for its treatment program, adding further financial strain during a time of uncertainty for nonprofits providing safety net services.
Employees affected by the licensing issues are still employed, Bacci said. But how long they can remain on the payroll, and whether they’ll be allowed to return to work, remains unclear.
TGTHR plans to maintain current staffing levels for at least two weeks, she said. If the closure drags on, the organization may be forced to make cuts.
“I think that is really directly tied to how quickly the state can move to approve us to reopen,” she said. “Our ability to reopen means that we have to be staffed in order to take youth back right away.”
In addition to The Source, other nonprofits provide shelter for adults (303-579-4404) and women and transgender people (303-447-9602).
Update: This story was updated on April 28 with additional comment from CDHS. It was also updated to state TGTHR is operating its drop-in center out of its affordable housing site at 1440 Pine Street.
Thanks for this reporting; is funding secure for the near future, or are there potential problems with Medicaid cuts?
It appears the dwelling, “Chase House” on Chase Ct. in South Boulder is on the market to be sold
Riiiight, a licensing audit. And by whose request exactly? As the state doesn’t just spontaneous go digging into things like this; so me thinks some city official is trying (or being directed) to leverage a minor issue as a clever means to sweep away a problem. Because it’s hard to tie all those tired homeless tropes to this vulnerable demographic as lazy and/or drug-addicts….so it’s more convenient to take away their resources with flimflam investigation of a technical issue with a vendor service and push them out of town as the slow wheels of the state bureaucracy turn in the meantime. A great look for Boulder, where rich people and corporations can afford to own thousands of homes that are purposely kept empty, while actual children and at-risk young people are deprived of a sense of security among a safe place to sleep. Maybe BRL outta put in a CORA request to CDHS, thus shedding a little light on what otherwise seems a pretty shady and suspiciously sudden action.
It seems suspicious but it wouldn’t be anyone at the city trying to shut them down for sure. Perhaps some disgruntled trumper at the state level.
I worked at TGTHR until last year, and what I witnessed after the transition in leadership and new CEO takeover was mismanagement, poor internal accountability, and a culture that struggled to support staff — especially those of us who brought both lived experience and professional expertise to the table.
This unfortunate news confirms what many of us feared would happen. The youth deserve better. The community deserves better. And the staff who gave everything to keep programs afloat deserved better.
This isn’t just a failure of compliance — it’s a failure of leadership. And it’s what happens when people in power ignore the voices of those sounding the alarm internally. Very disappointing. I hope they bounce back quickly!
Unfortunately, based on my experience, the state of Colorado typically does not shut down a program unless there are numerous or serious concerns. I wish this story had included more details from the state about their decision. The lack of basic fingerprinting appears to have exposed youth at TGTHR to potential risk, which is deeply concerning. I also worry that this issue reflects larger challenges within the organization, especially as TGTHR has been less engaged with the community since leadership changes. It is sad to see this happen to an organization that was once so highly respected.
As a former employee of TGTHR, this news is deeply disheartening. During my time with the organization, my colleagues and I repeatedly attempted to communicate to leadership that the agency was in crisis. The environment fostered by leadership led to a mass staff exodus, leaving most programs severely understaffed. Staff members urgently requested additional support for the sake of program participants, fearing that the instability would eventually impact the youth’s ability to remain in the programs.
TGTHR has provided crucial services to youth in our community for decades, and it is incredibly saddening to see this outcome — the result of ego outweighing compassion, empathy, and a true understanding of what is needed to create a sense of safety and stability.
To echo Annie’s comment, many of the youth and young adults served by these programs have experienced significant trauma. I hope that everyone was able to find a safe place for shelter and support, and that these closures will be brief.
As a former youth who was living at chase house from 2022-2023 it is not surprising to hear this. Some of my favorite stuff got fired illegally yes they won the lawsuit. There was constant food scares and it took almost 2 years for them to fix the washers and dryers. they took over a year to fix the floor in the kitchen it got so bad we had to wear shoes because the tile would cut our feet. when I was actively having a miscarriage at my high school they didn’t wanna pick me up they told me to take the bus to the hospital it would’ve been a 40 minute ride. One of the case managers got fired for smoking in the staff bathroom. and they force me to go to school the next day after my miscarriage or they would have grounded me. A lot of there rules were too strict and you could get grounded over everything. And 1440 is not too far off I was forced to live on the same floor as the person who has Sa’D me for several months. One of the property managers got caught sleeping with a tenant and that tenant was harassing me threatening me spreading rumors about me with his friend every day they were in their 20s and I was only 18 and every time I put in a grievance it was ignored by the property manager because he was sleeping with the bullies who were being a bully to me. The apartments are in unlivable conditions. When I was there for closer to two years out of the six working washers in six working dryers only one of each worked half of the time and it was like that before hand. My fridge never worked when I was there so I couldn’t have a lot of food. Most of the time there was no hot water. Also if you have medical conditions they don’t care one time I had a seizure and the Firefighters had to break down my door which I could not lock after and they did not fix it for seven months and I moved out after six months. Yes I reported this several times on paper to the staff to the property management named Derek before he got fired for sleeping with Francisco this place is a hell hole they get so much funding and they don’t even help us I hope they shut down this place I’ve seen so many Great staff leave because they tried helping us but the CEOs won’t listen.