Celebrating 30 Years of Supporting Youth in Boulder

For the past three decades, the city’s Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) has empowered young people to find their voice, shape their community, and build skills that last a lifetime. The YOP offers Boulder youth opportunities to impact their lives and the lives of their peers through outreach, representation of youth voice in local government, community projects and initiatives, and funding of individual and community grants.

Since 1994, YOP has:

• Honored more than 200 Outstanding Youth Volunteers for their service in the local community.
• Supported access to cultural, educational and recreational activities for more than 100,000 youth through an annual grant program.
• Funded youth-serving or -supporting programs in more than 150 schools and organizations.
• Compensated young people for contributing more than 55,000 hours of volunteer service to the community.

The program supports this work through the Youth Opportunities Advisory Board (YOAB), where high school students collaborate to advise city government and drive meaningful initiatives. YOAB encourages youth civic participation and advocates for youth voices in city planning. Over 450 students have participated in YOAB since 1994.

YOP has changed and expanded over the years and in 2019, a paid internship program for youth was launched to help youth develop leadership skills and promote youth civic engagement. So far, 30 students have completed internships with the City of Boulder.

This 30th anniversary is a celebration of the thousands of hours youth have dedicated to improving Boulder and a reaffirmation of YOP’s role in building a bright, inclusive future for our community.

Foundations for the Youth Opportunities Program

1969

The City of Boulder received a grant to establish Colorado’s first Youth Services Bureau with the intent to assess needs of first-time teen offenders in the criminal justice system, and to coordinate and provide services to decrease the likelihood or re-offending including counseling, community organization, program development and youth advocacy.

1972 to mid1980s

YS offered space for kids to hang out including a drop-in center, coffee house, and later a no-alcohol nightclub. YS ran the Youth Action Center, a multi-service outreach program that targeted out of school youth and the city began a closer relationship with the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD).

1983

• A survey of 400 youths confirmed the belief that drug and alcohol abuse was at an all-time high for local teens. Young people in Boulder, and across Colorado, were using “more frequently and more abusively” than youth nationally. With the help of a youth leadership team, a no alcohol nightclub, UP THE CREEK, was established for youth 12-18. UP THE CREEK sponsored weekend parties, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for young people, parent education and training, and a facility for peer counseling training. Over 3,000 young people participated in UP THE CREEK in its first year. By the end of 1984, over 40 youth volunteers received on the job training as disc jockeys, waitpersons, bartenders and security personnel.
• YS began teaching Peer Counseling at Boulder High School.

1987

The Peer Counseling partnership at Boulder High School was formalized as the Boulder County Intervention Program (BCIP) as a collaboration between the City of Boulder, St. Vrain and Boulder Valley School Districts, Boulder County Public Health, the Mental Health Center and other community agencies in Lyons and other nearby towns.

1988

YS Mediation Program began to address school dropout and absenteeism by providing a forum through which parents and teens could constructively resolve family conflicts.

June 1993

Boulder City Council approved the formation of the Youth Opportunities Program, which grew out of two convergent initiatives: the results of a survey to boulder youths and a report to City Council about the extent to which city programs and services were meeting youth needs, and approval by Boulder voters in Nov. 1992 of the .15% sales tax to support “youth opportunities.” Council created the Youth Opportunities Advisory Board and charged it with:

1. Advising the City on youth-related programs and policy
2. Recommending expenditures of the Youth Opportunities Fund (about $150,000 per year)

Youth Opportunities Program

1994

• The first full year of the Youth Opportunities Program (YOP) and Youth Opportunities Advisory Board (YOAB).
• Community Mediation Service (CMS) became part of the Youth Services. The Youth Services Mediation Program (YSMP) expanded to include training for teens to become mediators and take on a wider variety of cases involving young people.
• First round of funding from the Youth Opportunities Fund which distributed $5,758 to youth in our community.

1995-2000

Youth Opportunities Fund expands to offer $150,0000 in annual grants to individuals and community groups for providing volunteer and community service opportunities, special projects and events for youth living in the City of Boulder.

2019

YOP pilots the Youth Opportunities Internship Program in collaboration with the City Manager and Parks and Recreation. Ten high school aged interns work in city offices assisting city staff in summer programs.

2020

• In April, all YOP programs and events are discontinued due to closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Youth Opportunities Fund closed indefinitely.
• YOP reopens and YOAB meetings are reinstated remotely in July.

2021 to 2022

• YOAB undergoes yearlong evaluation to determine changes in youth need and program effectiveness post-pandemic.
• YOAB launched with new model based on feedback gathered during the evaluation.

2023

• The Youth Opportunities Internship Program relaunches after a pandemic-related hiatus. Internships now include professional and leadership development sessions and a competitive living wage.
• The Child Friendly Cities Initiative launches to bring together local governments and community members to prioritize the needs of children and elevate their voices in local governance and decision-making.

Head over to the city’s website to learn more about the Youth Opportunities Program, Youth Opportunities Advisory Board and Youth Opportunities Internship Program.

Or sign up to receive the city’s Housing and Human Services email newsletter to be the first to know about program updates and youth internship opportunities.