Current Priority Social Issues of Boulder County

These social issues drive our work in fostering and supporting partnerships. We have used two main resources to identify these issues as well as information from a large number of social service agencies. The two resource publications are the Civic Forum’s “Quality of Life in Boulder County 2002,” and a preliminary report issued by the The Boulder County Public Health Department and the Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley School Districts, “Adolescent Health in Boulder County.” These documents are generally available from the issuing organizations.

Current priority social issues include

• Risk behavior in youth
• School dropout rates and general school difficulties for Latino youth
• The discrepancy between costs and income particularly for the working poor
• Isolation and abuse in the growing elder population
• Homelessness
• Medical insurance and treatment availability
• Immigration
• Rising demands on basic needs services
• Director and staff stress dealing with personnel and funding cuts