A handful of Boulder County leaders on Wednesday called for state and national efforts to provide relief to financially strained families that are being further squeezed by the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2019, more than 27% of families in Boulder County were struggling to make ends meet on the income they received, Boulder County Commissioner-elect Claire Levy said during a panel discussion on Wednesday. “It’s important for the Legislature to create opportunities to create wages in Colorado, but by itself this is not going to help many families.”
Levy was joined on the virtual panel by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, Congressman Joe Neguse and Boulder City Councilmember Junie Joseph. The discussion, presented by Boulder Voices for Children, was moderated by Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty.
To bring real relief to local families, Levy said state and national leaders should consider an increase in income tax credits, which she called “the most powerful thing that could be done.”
Early childhood education supports, such as increased access to the Child Care Assistance Program and increased reimbursement rates for the program, also would help support struggling families, she said. “There are a lot of opportunities to improve family well-being that might go into the income category but it’s not wages, it’s work support.”
At the local level, raising the minimum wage may be a way to support families and help them emerge from poverty but such a move also would impact businesses, Joseph said.
“We need to think at a higher level of analysis, pursue a livable wage and protect businesses to be able to support the livable wage,” she said.
Beyond the impacts of the pandemic on children and families, panelists called for changes in the way the justice system addresses young offenders.
A punitive juvenile system has long-lasting and life-altering consequences for youth, Wiser said, adding that a range of tools, such as incentives, data and reporting, and partnerships, could encourage the implementation of restorative justice approaches.
More thought also should be given to how juvenile justice policies impact communities of color, Joseph said.
“For instance, the push to have (school resource officers) removed was because of the disproportionate impact on communities of color,” she said. “But we also have to look at other environmental policies, how are children treated within the classroom and the disparities in discipline.”
In Boulder County, Black youth are 4.2 times more likely and Hispanic youth 2.7 times more likely to be detained in the juvenile justice system compared to white youth, according to the 2018 Status of Children in Boulder County report.
Mental health and trauma during the pandemic also will have long-term reverberations, Wiser said, adding the state needs more support systems for youth to counter suicide being the leading cause of death in Colorado among people ages 12 to 24.
The 2019 Boulder County behavioral health data summary reported that among high school students, 23% reported feeling sad or hopeless in past two weeks, 17% had seriously considered suicide and 5% had attempted suicide.
Sometimes a listening ear is enough to make a difference, Levy said.
“You don’t often need necessarily the most highly trained professional to provide the service needed, it can sometimes just be a trusted neighbor,” she said.
