Boulder-based TGTHR on Tuesday announced it was suspending services at The Source, a drop-in center and emergency shelter for youth (ages 12-21) experiencing homelessness. Staff were placed on a six-month furlough, according to the organization’s spokesperson.
The announcement comes less than a month after The Source and another TGTHR program, Chase House, were temporarily shut down by the state for improperly filed background checks on employees. Chase House is a residential treatment program for youth ages 12-18 who have been removed from their families.
“While the recent issue surrounding background checks impacted the timing of this decision, it was not the deciding factor,” an emailed statement from the nonprofit reads. “TGTHR has faced significant reductions in expected funding from key public and private supporters, and the ongoing uncertainty of support from the federal government is also a consideration.
“We can no longer sustain The Source with the level of secure funding required to operate it safely, effectively, and in alignment with our values and standards of care.”
Nine full-time staff, four part-time staff and seven relief staff were furloughed, spokesperson Alex Bergland wrote via email. They were provided an undisclosed amount of severance, Bergland said.
The Source, which closed April 21, was cleared by the state department of human services to reopen May 9, Bergland wrote, “but as the financial picture became clearer, we made the difficult decision not to reopen.”
TGTHR is “looking at a variety of possibilities” that would allow The Source to reopen, according to Bergland.
The Source’s emergency overnight shelter had space for 16 youth, according to TGTHR’s website. Suspended services also include an outreach team who were tracking at least five young adults (over 18) displaced by the licensing-related closure.
The closure of Boulder’s only youth-focused shelter comes as All Roads, Boulder’s largest general-population homeless shelter, reduced its nightly beds from 180 to 160, and as the City of Boulder begins more aggressive removals of homeless camps and individuals in the downtown core.
Along with the rise in general and family homelessness, the number of minors becoming unhoused locally has more than doubled since 2019, according to data collected by school districts.
In the 2023-2024 school year, 110 unaccompanied youth — meaning they were unhoused without adult family members — experienced homelessness in the Boulder Valley (70) and St. Vrain Valley (40) School Districts, compared to 52 in the 2019-2020 school year.
Unaccompanied homeless youth and children, by year
2022-2023: 71
2021-2022: 61
2020-2021: 41
2019-2020: 52
Source: Colorado Department of Education