Commissioners vote to expand community response program

BY HALEY LENA HLENA@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Douglas County commissioners focused on increasing citizen safety as they approved expanding the Community Response Team program on Jan. 24.

In the only unanimous vote of the meeting, commissioners approved the contract with the Department of Public Safety, Division of Criminal Justice, O ce of Behavioral Health for the Multidisciplinary Crime Prevention and Crisis Intervention Grant to fund three law enforcement o cer positions to sta new community response teams at the Douglas County Sheri ’s O ce, the Castle Rock Police Department and the Parker Police Department. e expanded program will cost $520,740.

According to sta representative Maggie Cooper, the goal of the Multidisciplinary Crime Prevention and Crisis Intervention Grant Program is to support and provide communitybased multidisciplinary approaches to crisis intervention strategies and crime prevention.

e grant will allow the Community Response Team to grow from six to nine teams. e expansion will include seven community teams and two additional teams focused on youths seven days a week.

Part of the Mental Health Initiative, the Community Response Teams are co-response teams that pair law enforcement with mental health clinicians to go out into the community to assist those that are in crisis.

e grant will also provide an increased wellness bene t for clinical sta and a supportive parenting group for parents of children served by the community response teams.

e teams will provide special- ized training for clinical sta to serve Douglas County high needs populations including LGBTQ youth, the elderly and parents.

In other business e commissioners voted 2-1 to approve Sterling Ranch LLC, Sterling Ranch Community Authority Board and Dominion Water and Sanitation District’s request to extend the deadline for the subdivision improvement and intergovernmental agreements to start various park construction on July 1, 2024.

A motion was made by Commissioner George Teal and second by Lora omas. Abe Laydon and Teal vote for the approval. omas voted against the measure. Commissioners questioned how desired changes to the community were captured and the need for a reservation system.

In addition, commissioners voted 2-1 to approve a funding agreement between Douglas County and the STEM School of Highlands Ranch. STEM School of Highlands Ranch requested $961,504 from Douglas County’s innovative fund to increase safety at school. Details of the innovation project remain con dential. e Innovation Funding Agreement was approved as Laydon and Teal voted in favor of the agreement. omas voted against the agreement.

Representatives from STEM School of Highlands Ranch spoke about what steps they have taken in the process to implement innovative technology and the support they have received for the project. Commissioners questioned and discussed the e ectiveness of the technology.

In another 2-1 vote, commissioners appointed Stephen Allen to the Douglas County Planning Commission.