With a hired staff member in place now for several months, the
Building a Generation program is steadily getting under way. The
program now has chapters in Highlands Ranch, Parker and Castle
Rock.

“There’s a lot going on here to get things truly moving with
this,” said Michele Barr, the program’s prevention coordinator.
“We’re still recruiting volunteers in Highlands Ranch, Parker and
Castle Rock.”

Volunteer boards in the three areas are spending months studying
what needs to be done in their community, and which programs would
be the most effective. Out of 21 general risk factors identified by
national researchers, three will be chosen as priorities in each
community.

Parker leaders of the countywide program, “Building a
Generation,” finished the town’s risk assessment. The town will
target family conflict, family management and mobility issues.
These categories include issues such as two-income families,
latch-key students, an unstable population flux, the tiring effect
of commuting everywhere, neglected relationships and domestic
violence, Barr said.

Next, Parker will determine which resources are available
already, and which need to be brought in. Highlands Ranch and
Castle Rock will do the same. A report will be published this
spring, Barr said.

“I’ve seen places where a program like this really becomes a
part of the community,” Barr said. “In Douglas County, the vision
is that this program would coordinate grants and resources for
people all throughout the county.”

Barr mentioned several examples of programs that could
eventually have an effect on Douglas County communities. A
kindergarten-through-twelfth grade program called “Know Your Body,”
offered by the school district, covers lifelong health issues.
Family therapy, marital counseling and personal therapy could be
another set of programs here in the future.

A bullying program also could be considered. Or the county could
offer prenatal and infancy programs for new parents.

Next year, Barr and her community volunteer boards will work
more with the 18th Judicial District to assess youth crime trends,
Barr said.

The entire assessment process typically takes between one and
three years, Barr said. Over 20 years, Barr envisions ensuring a
crime-free youth population.

Building a Generation was created in Douglas County in 1999 in
response to the Columbine High School tragedy. On April 20, 1999,
12 high school students and a teacher were gunned down by Dylan
Klebold and Eric Harris before the two teen-aged gunmen killed
themselves at the high school.

Shortly after the tragedy, three local leaders formed Building a
Generation. Beryl Jacobsen of the Colorado State University
cooperative extension, Jamie LaRue, director of the Douglas Public
Library District, and former publisher of the Douglas County
News-Press Richard Bangs sat down last year with similar ideas
about a local program.

A $43,500 grant from the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice
was awarded earlier this year to Building a Generation. Barr was
hired to coordinate community resources and started in August. She
lives in Highlands Ranch and has three children in the Douglas
County School District.

Building a Generation is modeled after the state program called
Building Communities that Care. That state program was initiated by
Developmental Research and Programs, a research organization in
Seattle. The Douglas County arm has volunteer boards in Castle
Rock, Parker and Highlands Ranch.