Littleton approves three-year child-abuse response agreement with SungateKids
The proposed agreement coordinates investigations, forensic interviews and family services, but implementation depends on agency signatures and includes no stated dollar allocation.
Littleton City Council approved a resolution Aug. 18 for a proposed three-year agreement with SungateKids Advocacy Center and agencies across Arapahoe County, according to the city’s legislative record.
The memorandum of understanding states that the agreement would take effect Sept. 1, 2026, but also says SungateKids and each participating agency become bound when both parties sign. Its three-year term would run from the date of the first signature. The available record does not include a roll-call tally or show that all agencies have signed and dated the agreement.
The agreement covers child-abuse cases, cases in which children witness violence and cases involving vulnerable adult victims. It aims to reduce duplicative interviews while coordinating investigations, forensic interviews, medical and mental-health referrals, victim services, case reviews and prosecution.
The 18 participants include Arapahoe County human services, the county attorney’s and sheriff’s offices, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, SungateKids, local police and fire departments, Aurora Public Schools, Cherry Creek School District, Littleton Public Schools, Arapahoe Community College and Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Under the agreement, law-enforcement agencies would investigate crimes, preserve evidence, coordinate with child-protection workers and prosecutors, participate in forensic interviews and retain final authority over criminal investigations in their jurisdictions. County human-services workers would investigate qualifying reports, assess safety and risk, coordinate treatment and manage cases accepted for ongoing services. SungateKids would provide trained forensic interviewers, family advocacy and a multidisciplinary team coordinator. The district attorney’s office would determine charges, prosecute cases and provide victim-support assistance.
The agreement does not specify a dollar amount, payment schedule, agency-by-agency cost allocation or Littleton appropriation. It says SungateKids will arrange funding for services provided by its staff, while participating agencies must provide or use specially trained personnel, train relevant employees and maintain their own insurance.
The MOU says SungateKids services would be free to families and calls for no-cost rideshare transportation when law-enforcement or child-protection transportation is unavailable, interpreter coordination and medical and mental-health services regardless of a family’s ability to pay. The agreement’s actual start and expiration dates, as well as each agency’s staffing and service commitments, remain unspecified in the available record.