Tennyson Center Shuts Denver Residential Wing Amid Staffing Shortages

Is the Tennyson Center’s residential program stable, or is it just waiting for the next crisis to hit?

It’s closing again.

The Denver-based nonprofit is shutting down its residential treatment wing for young people. The reason? Staffing shortages so severe that employees are getting hurt and one former staffer allegedly had sex with a 15-year-old boy.

The remaining teens will move to other facilities or group homes by the end of the month. Tennyson will keep running its day treatment, school, and in-home support programs. Those serve about 1,000 families. The residential piece — the part where kids actually sleep — is gone.

Mindy Watrous, the president and CEO, calls it a "difficult decision." She blames "broader workforce challenges" across Colorado’s residential treatment sector. Staffing, she says, has become unsustainable.

But look closer.

This is the second time in five years Tennyson has closed its residential program. Last time was 2021, after a 12-year-old boy ran away from the Denver center and died after being struck by a car. They reopened in Watrous declined to give an interview, sending a statement instead. She insisted the closure isn’t linked to the sexual assault allegation.

The alleged incident involves Katherine Taylor-Burroughs, 32. She was charged in December with four counts of sexual assault of a child by a person in a position of trust. It’s a felony. A 15-year-old boy told detectives he had sex with Taylor-Burroughs, a youth treatment counselor, four times in the center’s basement.

When leadership found out in November, they reported it to law enforcement and the Colorado Department of Human services. DHS oversees these centers. Tennyson wasn’t found at fault by state child welfare officials, according to the Colorado Association of Family and Children’s Agencies.

The staff member was removed from campus immediately.

Yet, two former employees told The Sun the residential program was so short-staffed that kids lacked adequate supervision. Employees were frequently injured trying to physically restrain violent teens. Leadership was offering overtime to cover shifts for those who quit or couldn’t work due to injury.

Tennyson says it met or exceeded state staffing ratios. They also say many injuries weren’t related to client care. They wouldn’t discuss personal health information.

Read that again. The center is closing because it can’t keep enough people on the floor. Not because of the assault. Not because of the death in 2021. Because the workforce is broken.

Locals who rely on these services for their teens with severe behavioral health issues now face a new scramble. Where do the remaining kids go? How many other centers are one bad month away from collapse?

Watrous says safety and well-being are top priorities. But you can’t prioritize safety if you don’t have enough bodies in the building to watch the kids.

The residential program is done. The day programs remain. For now.