The former executive director of a north metro Denver nonprofit that works with abused and neglected children is on leave from the Colorado Department of Human Services after the state attorney general announced she had pocketed nearly $100,000 in donations at her former job.
Lindsay Salas started working as the deputy commissioner of administration at the state’s beleaguered Behavioral Health Administration on Nov. 17, 2025, spokesperson George Laumeyer confirmed Friday. The BHA is part of the Department of Human Services.
Salas had stepped down from her role leading CASA of Adams and Broomfield Counties five months earlier after the organization discovered she was taking donor funds meant for her graduate school tuition and using them for personal purposes.
CASA – which stands for court-appointed special advocates – announced her departure on June 6, according to the organization’s website.
The nonprofit launched an internal investigation and hired an independent forensic accounting firm after discovering Salas’ alleged misconduct. The findings were sent “to the appropriate authorities,” CASA spokesperson Cathy Lucas said in a statement.
The accusations went public this week when the state sttorney general’s office announced details of a civil settlement with Salas, including that she falsified and forged tuition invoices to pocket approximately $99,000 from a “top donor” who was paying for her graduate degree at the University of Denver.
Salas found out she could pocket the tuition money after she received a $5,000 scholarship from DU that the university sent to her because the CASA donor had already paid her full tuition, the attorney general’s office said. She is accused of altering invoices for larger amounts of money and creating fake invoices.
Under the settlement agreement, Salas will repay $66,000 and cannot work in charity fundraising roles for five years.
State officials said the Behavioral Health Administration followed state policy when hiring Salas, “including a background check, which did not reveal anything concerning.”
“We take any form of fraud very seriously and find this information very alarming. While these events occurred before the employee worked at the agency, BHA is reviewing this matter carefully,” Laumeyer said in a statement.
Salas was hired by former Commissioner Dannette Smith, whose retirement Gov. Jared Polis announced in February shortly before The Denver Post reported on what agency workers described as a toxic, unsafe work environment. That environment included Smith referring to “cutting their throats” during a 2024 meeting about a calendar improperly shared with someone outside the agency.
In the wake of CASA’s investigation, the organization updated financial oversight procedures “to reinforce accountability and stewardship moving forward,” Lucas said.
“Our focus remains on serving children and families in Adams and Broomfield Counties. CASA’s staff, volunteers, and leadership continue their work supporting the best interests of children in the court system,” she said.
DU officials confirmed Salas graduated from the university with a master’s degree in business administration.
“DU previously cooperated in the government’s investigation of this matter,” spokesperson Jason Gruenauer said in a statement. “Due to student privacy laws, the university cannot comment on any internal action taken by DU related to Ms. Salas.”
Salas did not respond to a request for comment.
Salas’ case is the latest in a slew of problems facing the Colorado Department of Human Services, which is being investigated by an outside firm after high leadership turnover and multiple formal complaints. The department paid nearly $3 million to former employees since 2019 to settle accusations of pay, age, gender and disability discrimination, whistleblower protection violations, and retaliatory firings.
One such accusation resulted in a federal lawsuit filed in September in which the former head of the Colorado Division for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind alleged DHS management humiliated and discriminated against him before forcing him out of his job.
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