The Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman released a report Tuesday detailing an apparent pattern of policy violations and lack of oversight by Division of Youth Services staff conducting strip searches of juveniles in their care.

The report, which reviewed 1,009 strip searches conducted by DYS staff in centers across the state between 2023 and 2025, said that staff violated the division’s policy 1,006 times, sometimes on multiple occasions during the same search. Staff found contraband, including illegal substances and weapons, on about 10% of conducted searches.

The policy violations include not documenting the approval given by center administrators to conduct the search, unclear documentation of the reason for the search and its results and a lack of internal review as to whether the search was justified and/or appropriate, according to the report.

“We recognize that searching youth who reside in DYS youth centers is an important method for finding and removing dangerous contraband,” said Ombudsman Stephanie Villafuerte in a news release. “However, given the invasive nature of strip searches and the negative impacts they have on youth, such searches must be carried out to the highest standard and documented thoroughly.”

A spokesperson for DYS responded to The Denver Gazette’s request for comment about the report Wednesday afternoon.

“The report by the Office of the Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman (CPO) references more than 1,000 searches. The CPO only provided their report to the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) late on Monday, Sept. 29, less than 24 hours before sharing it publicly,” read a statement attributed to CDHS Executive Director Michelle Barnes. “At this time, CDHS cannot say whether or not we dispute the CPO’s findings or what next steps could be, and we do not have an estimate as to how long that could take.”

Responsible for detaining those between the ages of 10 and 21 who are waiting for the outcome of criminal charges or have been convicted of a crime, the division operates numerous centers across the state, according to the report. Its policies allow staff to search the detainees for contraband in a few different ways, ranging from a pat search, which does not require any level of undressing, to a full search, that requires all clothing to be removed.

Detainees are fully searched when they are admitted to a center as well as after in-person visits with family or supports or returning from an appointment off the property, according to the report. Additionally, staff are allowed to subjectively conduct searches when they suspect a youth may have an illicit substance or object. That suspicion can come from overhearing inmates discuss the contraband, seeing them with it or if there is a smell of it.

Villafuerte noted in the report that DYS changed its search policy in March 2024 to add more safeguards and requirements for documentation when it came to full searches, but that those revised policies were still not followed.

Several different strip search episodes were documented in the report. In one case, staff observed a 14-year-old potentially putting something in his pants, using the action as justification for a full search. The teen refused and was put in a room by himself for more than 10 hours before agreeing to the search. Staff did not find anything on his body.

In another case, five girls were each required to fully remove their state-issued uniforms and undergo full body search conducted by at least one adult staff member, according to the report. The justification for the search was that staff received a tip that one of them was charging what appeared to be a vape pen on the classroom computer. None of the searches revealed any contraband.

The ombudsman began reviewing DYS searches in August 2023 after receiving a complaint from a youth at one of the centers, who said that staff required him to undergo a full search at least weekly, whenever there was talk of contraband in the center, even though nothing was ever found on him or other youth being searched, according to the report.

In addition to that complaint, the ombudsman reviewed documentation including incident reports, case notes and search logs, observing multiple potential violations within them, they said.

As a result of the findings, the ombudsman made serveral recommendations to DYS:

• Review all youth center search logs, specifically regarding full searches conducted for reasonable suspicion, during each quarterly monitoring visit for the following criteria:
  • Listing the number of full searches conducted for reasonable suspicion
  • Ensuring they adhered to the documentation requirements for DYS searches
  • Listing the number of times a full search found contraband
  • Documenting interviews from youth about their experience during the searches
• Provide public data regarding monitoring and safety within DYS youth centers, including the frequency and appropriateness of the searches and how often contraband was found