Adams County presents slate of Community Enrichment Grant recommendations; commissioners seek accountability for tattoo-removal pilot

Adams County staff on Monday presented the advisory committee’s recommended awards for the Community Enrichment Grant (CEG) program and asked the Board of County Commissioners to send the slate to public hearing.

The grant manager, Carla Estrada, said the 2025 application round produced 110 submissions, 76 viable proposals and roughly $765 million requested. The advisory committee recommended awards across three tiers: Tier 1 (community stabilization, $500,000 total allocation), Tier 2 (regional and systemic impact, $200,000 allocation) and Tier 3 (innovation and emerging needs, $100,000 allocation). Individual recommended awards ranged from $10,000 to $100,000. Staff asked the board to approve moving the recommendations to a public hearing and to finalize grant agreements after that process.

Why it matters: The CEG is intended to fund county-based organizations delivering services that “improve the health, welfare and quality of life” of Adams County residents. Commissioners said they wanted assurance the awards would be distributed with documentation and oversight, particularly for smaller, novel programs.

Details of recommendations and debate • Tier 1: Staff outlined multiple $25,000 awards to organizations including Maker Housing Partners, Food Bank of the Rockies (Adams County mobile pantries), Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver (Adams County locations) and others. Higher Tier 1 recommendations included Kids First Healthcare ($55,000) and family-stability awards of $40,000 to several providers. • Tier 2: Two recommended awards of $100,000 each — one to Cross Purpose’s leader program in Adams County and one to Westminster Public Schools for an advanced manufacturing workforce development program at the Iversee [sic] Innovation Campus. • Tier 3: Three recommended awards, including a $50,000 award to Youth Empowerment Agency and a $10,000 request for a community tattoo-removal project intended for referral-based clients, specifically survivors of human trafficking or individuals with gang-related tattoos who face barriers to employment.

Commissioner concerns and staff response Commissioners repeatedly questioned the $10,000 tattoo-removal request as an outlier relative to food, shelter and basic-needs grants. Commissioners Julie, Kathy and Steve (full names not recorded in the transcript) asked how eligibility would be determined and how the county would ensure dollars were used for the stated population rather than elective tattoo removals. Carla Estrada and staff said the program is referral-based and targets people who were “branded” by human trafficking or have gang tattoos that impede employment. Staff said the provider had initially requested $50,000 and that $10,000 would likely serve about 10–25 people; the provider’s original ask suggested 20–25 people for $50,000.

To address accountability concerns, staff proposed and commissioners supported contract language requiring reimbursement-based payments and periodic reporting. Carla Estrada said the county could require case notes or referral documentation with reimbursement requests and that funds could be released only after the provider submitted documentation supporting each client served.

Next steps Staff said the award recommendations will move to a public hearing, with grant agreements finalized afterward and an award ceremony planned. Commissioners asked staff to return with the contract language that would require reimbursement and client-level documentation before funds are released.

Ending The board did not take final action on awards at the study session; staff requested direction to proceed to public hearing with the recommended slate and promised to return with contract and reporting language for the items that raised commissioner concerns, particularly the tattoo-removal pilot.