As the Calwood and Lefthand Canyon wildfires surged around Boulder last October, conversations began in the county about a program that would provide free counseling services for residents who were experiencing trauma as a result of the fires, said Lisa Moreno, the vice president of programs for Community Foundation Boulder County.
Community Foundation Boulder County teamed up with Boulder County Community Services and Jewish Family Service, or JSF, to create the Boulder County Crisis Counseling Program.
According to Moreno, the Boulder County Crisis Counseling Program was designed to replicate the operations of Foothills United Way.
“(Foothills United Way) would open a voucher program that someone could use if they needed mental health services or non-clinical services related to trauma after a disastrous event,” Moreno said, “then the voucher program would handle logistics to get it paid for people.”
Today, the Boulder County Crisis Counseling Program recognizes the wildfires and COVID-19 as the two disastrous events for which Boulder County residents experiencing trauma can utilize the program’s therapy and counseling services.
Individuals can access the program’s services by going to the Boulder County Crisis Counseling Program page on the Jewish Family Service of Colorado website. After registering for the program, a list of providers will be displayed for the individual to choose from.
In the early days of creating the program, said Moreno, Community Foundation Boulder County partnered with Psychology Today — an online resource to find licensed therapists in a particular area — to reach out to providers in Boulder County and ask whether they would lend their services to the Boulder County Crisis Counseling Program. Between 70 and 80 providers responded positively to the inquiry.
According to Jenny Herren, the director of marketing and communications for Jewish Family Service, the list of providers is long to ensure that each participant of the program will receive the service that best suits their needs.
“Clients can go through and pick (a provider) by the age-range of clients they serve, the language they use,” she said, “and there’s youth and family services and LGBTQ+ services.”
The program offers up to $500 toward five individual counseling sessions (a maximum of $100 per session), or up to $875 toward five family counseling sessions (a maximum of $175 per session).
Once an individual utilizes the services of the program, the bill for the services goes to JFS and the program pays for it, Moreno said.
Since its launch in January this year, Boulder County Crisis Counseling Program has served 31 individuals in the community.
“It’s been received really well from the people who have been through it,” Herren said. “Early on, we did talk to a client and they were really just grateful that Boulder and JFS were partnering to offer this program.”
CORRECTION: The article has been altered to reflect Lisa Moreno's proper title, which is the vice president of programs for Community Foundation Boulder County, as well as to name the three organizations that teamed up to create the Boulder County Crisis Counseling Program.
