Strip Searching Children

Read our list of suggestions for ways you can take action against state-sponsored child strip searching in Colorado.

We all agree that child abuse must be investigated.

DHS has no specific rules about how children are photographed, or chain of custody for the pictures.

Right now in Colorado, we have a government job description (social worker in the Department of Human Services) where the job gives the worker discretion to view naked children and take pic

We carefully teach children to protect their private areas and not to let strangers touch them or view them except in a medical setting.

Yes! The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that educators must be very careful about school searches that go as far as a strip search, even under the more relaxed school standards.

Government workers may or may not ask for consent. The position of the Department of Human Services (DHS) is that it does not need consent from parents.

DHS justifies its position by a statute in Colorado that allows social workers to take color photographs of “visible injuries.” C.R.S. § 19-3-306.

Yes! Strip searches sometimes happen in the context of school searches, but most often because of an allegation of child abuse. Social workers regularly examine children’s private areas.