Happy May,

 “Our children are our future”. Clearly true. But what is also true is too many people in positions of authority trumpet that feel-good mantra loudly, while doing little or nothing to ensure that future is bright. A painful example of this close to home is that our Colorado state budget is legend for underfunding education. We “honor’ our youth by funding education in the bottom 20% of states and falling far short of providing the mental health services our young residents require. Many families in Denver and statewide find it difficult or impossible to find/afford stable housing, child care, access to healthy foods and consistent quality health care.

Earlier this year, in line with Mayor Johnston’s focus on children and families in his 2025 goals, Denver became the 7th U.S. city to formalize an agreement with UNICEF, beginning the 2-3 year process to certification as a Child Friendly City as part of that organization’s Child Friendly Cities Initiative. The initiative, born of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of The Child, will require Denver to incorporate the voices of youth in developing policies that support children and young people, ensuring they have the resources and opportunities to thrive. Cities are encouraged to address areas including: education, health, play and leisure, participation, protection, environment, social inclusion and more. To date, 3500 jurisdictions in more than 70 countries have achieved that designation. We will keep you posted as Denver’s effort moves along.

I recently became aware of another disturbing challenge to youth wellbeing that has befallen cities across the country in the aftermath of school closings during the early days of the COVID pandemic. School absences have increased exponentially as families were forced into and have now settled into life patterns that no longer rely on schools for services – meals, before and after school care and the like – that previously provided much needed stability in their family lives.

Nationwide, chronic absenteeism (typically defined as missing at least 10 percent of the school year for any reason) surged from 15% in 2018 to 28% in 2022-23. While the numbers are higher in lower income areas, rates have skyrocketed through all economic strata. Absences in low income districts moved from 19% in 2018 to 32% in 2022-23, with truancy in wealthy districts seeing almost a doubling, moving from 10% to 19% over that same time. Colorado absenteeism hit a level of 34%, with Denver Public Schools (DPS) coming in at 37.6%. Some 122 DPS schools exceeded that level of truancy with 52 schools exceeding 50%. Addressing the emergency, the district has hired an Improvement Planning and Attendance Manager, piloting student retention efforts at 20 Denver schools. We simply have to find the money and the will to invest more heavily in our youth. To fail to do so will portend for serious trouble down the road.

I am a real subscriber to the sentiment that says, “Don’t tell me your values, show me your budget and I’ll tell you your values.” Denver will begin addressing the 2026 budget in the coming months. Stayed tuned. We need to pay careful attention to our present reality, because our children ARE our future.

Paul Kashmann