News Clips
Colorado must stop using jails for people in mental health crisis, panel says
By JENNIFER BROWN | jbrown@denverpost.com
PUBLISHED: January 4, 2017 at 5:20 pm | UPDATED: January 5, 2017 at 1:00 am
Colorado should stop using jails to house people placed on involuntary mental health holds who haven’t been charged with a crime, says a task force created by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
The state is one of only six that still put people having a mental health episode behind bars.
The 30-member panel, ordered by Hickenlooper after he vetoed a bill in June that would have strengthened Colorado’s 72-hour mental health hold law, acknowle...
Mental health group looks to solve issues
By Crystal Nelson
Tuesday, December 13, 2016 at 3:29 pm
Officials at Mental Health Colorado came to Brighton on Wednesday, Dec. 7, to find out what residents here need in terms of mental health programs.
The state nonprofit group found that area residents want more access to mental health care and lower insurance deductibles for care. The group held meetings throughout the state in recent weeks, hearing from residents in Fort Collins and Grand Junction, Pueblo and Aurora, among others.
“Most of the folks who join our conversation are not satisfied with ...
Denver deputy accused of telling mentally ill inmate to ‘just die’ has suspension overturned
By: Jennifer Kovaleski, Blair Miller
DENVER – A Denver sheriff’s deputy suspended for allegedly telling a mentally ill inmate on suicide watch to “just die” had his suspension overturned Friday by the Denver Career Service Board.
The mentally ill inmate was being housed in a special suicide cell that is designed to prevent suicide.
Read the hearing officer's judgment in full by clicking here.
Denver Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Bosveld had been suspended for 10 days for neglect of duty and failure to observe written departmental or agency regulations. ...
Mental health advocates want to hear concerns about the system
DENVER -- Andrew Romanoff knows intimately how a family can be blind-sided by the consequences of mental health concerns that go undiagnosed and untreated.
He lost a close cousin to suicide and turned his grief into a passion for changing the way Colorado thinks about, treats and funds mental health.
"It's a real crisis in our state," Romanoff said.
He is in the middle of a listening tour across the state, hearing concerns from people in rural and urban cities about mental health.
The Mental Health Colorado nonprofit estimates 1 in 4 Coloradans will experience a ...
NAMI survey report: Too many gaps in mental health insurance coverage
ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reveals new information about the gap between health insurance coverage of mental health and substance abuse conditions and that of other medical conditions.
Out-of-Network, Out-of-Pocket, Out-of-Options: The Unfulfilled Promise of Parity focuses specifically on the limits of in-network mental health care providers and excessive out-of-pocket costs for people seeking mental health care.
"Despite federal law, discrimination ...
Exploring barriers to mental health care
Please join Mental Health Colorado for our upcoming metro-area conversations on Tuesday, November 15 in Aurora and Wednesday, December 7 in Brighton.
What’s so special about Dec. 6, 2016?
It’s just one day. But for millions of Coloradans, it could be the most important day of the year. It’s Colorado Gives Day.
Last year, more than 76,000 Coloradans donated nearly $39 million on Colorado Gives Day. This year, we aim to do even better.
You don’t have to wait until Dec. 6 to participate. You can schedule your donation right now.
Better yet, you can make a recurring donation. Once a year, once a month, or even once a week, you’ll be making a difference.
At Mental Health Colorado, that’s what we do every day. We’re leading the fight to ...
Colorado Springs teen suicides highlight gap in mental health services
By MEGAN SCHRADER | mschrader@denverpost.com
Colorado Springs is in the midst of a teen suicide cluster.
That should be more than enough to scare adults into action to improve adolescent mental health care in Colorado — and there is much room for improvement.
First The Gazette and then Newsweek identified the trend of teens taking their own lives in a horrifying contagion of death that has left 29 kids dead in two years, many from the same few schools.
No one is certain what exactly drives rashes of suicides like this, but one thing is certain — data shows ...
Spreading awareness at the 2016 Tribute Gala with Mental Health Colorado
We had a fantastic time at the 2016 Tribute Gala, Unmasked!!
Mental Health Colorado did an incredible job bringing together so many professionals, advocates and organizations to spread awareness of the many issues still surrounding mental health care.
We heard some awe-inspiring stories shared and tears were shed. Silent and live auctions took place with incredible items to bid on! Read more...
More college students going to mental health centers
DENVER -- College can be a stressful time. And now those stresses are sending more students to mental health centers than ever before.
Hunter Long And Yazman Ezimi are music students. Their biggest source of stress centers around academics.
"Homework," Long says. That's probably the biggest thing that causes stress."
Another stressor is finding that school life balance.
"We both have jobs and we both go to school full-time and we're trying to make a career," Ezimi says. " So it's really hard to balance all of that so that causes stress."
The American College ...
