A Boulder nonprofit group that serves at-risk and homeless youth says it hopes to have two of its service sites re-opened soon after a state agency closed them last week.

TGTHR’s The Source and Chase House were shut down by the Colorado Department of Human Services on April 21 after a state audit found administrative errors in how the organization reported its staff background checks. The Source is a 14-bed facility to house homeless minors and young adults. Chase House is a youth residential treatment facility.

Annie Bacci, the CEO of TGTHR, explained that the organization adopted a new system for reporting its background checks since its previous state audits.

“We were running the background checks here, so every single person in our program had extensive background checks, but it wasn’t populating in the state system the way it needed to for our licensings,” Bacci said.

In an email to the Daily Camera, a Colorado Department of Human Services representative said that compliance concerns were noted during recent facility visits.

“Recently, the Colorado Department of Human Services identified concerns with TGTHR’s residential programs, including incomplete or missing background checks for staff, missing training documentation and staff working in positions for which they are not qualified,” the agency said. “… CDHS continues to work with TGTHR to bring them into full compliance.”

As of Monday, all of TGTHR’s staff who needed to redo background checks had done so and results will trickle in throughout the week, Bacci said. Some people drove as far as Greeley and Colorado Springs for their appointments, Bacci said. The expectation is that all background checks will pass, she added.

“I don’t have a date, but I’m hopeful that we can be open again in the next couple of weeks,” Bacci said.The Source is a year-round, 24/7 emergency shelter for homeless youth. The facility has 14 beds for people 12 to 24 years old. It also offers daily drop-in services such as meals, meeting with a case manager, showers or resources for job searching. Street outreach is done at the Source, as well, Bacci said.

Those services have been active since the state’s closure, with drop-in services provided at TGTHR’s main location at 1440 Pine St., Bacci said. The street outreach team is ramping up its efforts, she said.

Chase House focuses on behavioral services for people 12 to 18 years old. It provides services for up to 10 adolescents at a time “who have been placed by the state due to family disruption,” according to the TGTHR website. The people who were staying at Chase House at the time of the closure were moved back to their families or guardians, Bacci said.

“But our clinical team has been providing clinical support remotely every day, and the case management team has been really working to provide support for the families and guardians with the hope that they can come back to Chase House as soon as we reopen as well,” she said.

Questions on how this would impact staffing also arose from the closure.

Alex Bergland, director of communications for TGTHR, said the organization continues “to keep all staff on payroll as we navigate the current situation.”

Bacci added that TGTHR had made efforts to find new accommodations for displaced youth. It’s challenging to know the situation of each individual, because it changes day by day, she said. Staffers are checking in with the young people daily and the street outreach team is checking on the waitlist at other shelters to connect them with services, she said.

“We’re completely focused on caring for the young people right now and staying in relationship with them,” Bacci said. “That’s where all of our time is going right now and getting the administrative pieces cleared with the state so we can reopen.”