News Clips
Mental health discussion centers around barriers
In conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month, Mental Health Colorado’s Statewide Tour visited La Junta and Arkansas Valley residents recently at Woodruff Memorial Library.
The tour focused on the barriers that prevent people from getting the mental health care that they need and the solutions to ensuring that appropriate care is provided to individuals in the Arkansas Valley. At the state level, Mental Health Colorado advocates for the more than one million Coloradans who experience a mental health or substance use disorder each year. They engage policymakers, ...
Mental Health group holds ‘conversation’ in Vail
VAIL — It's not hard to fathom that 1 million Coloradans suffer from mental illness, but it's daunting to think only half of them get treatment — for whatever reason. Another alarming statistic: People with mental illnesses start showing symptoms around age 14.
With the suicide rate climbing in Colorado, the people at Mental Health Colorado believe it's time to look at mental health like any other medical crisis.
Mental Health Colorado is an advocacy organization trying to change public stigmas associated with mental illness and policies on local, state and ...
In Aspen, Andrew Romanoff shines light on mental illness
Andrew Romanoff is on a mission to put mental illness on par with cancer.
The former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives and current mental health advocate said Monday that just 40 percent of Coloradans with a mental illness receive treatment for it.
"What if only 40 percent of Americans with cancer got treatment?" Romanoff said during a presentation at Colorado Mountain College in Aspen. "There would be a huge outcry."
In general, 4 to 5 percent of the population suffer from a serious mental illness, which translates to between 200,000 and 250,000 ...
Former house speaker will present on mental health issues in Aspen
The head of a mental health advocacy organization currently backing a bill in the state capitol that would end the practice of holding those experiencing an acute mental health crisis in jail is speaking in Aspen on Monday to kick off a strategic planning session for local public health leaders.
Andrew Romanoff, who served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 2001 through 2009, and for his final four years as the house speaker, will give remarks during an 8 to 9:30 a.m. talk at the Aspen Colorado Mountain College campus which is open to the public. Attendees ...
Andrew Romanoff talks mental health treatment in Aspen, April 10th
Andrew Romanoff, former Colorado state representative, is now president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado. KDNK’s Amy Hadden Marsh spoke to him about why mental health and substance abuse continue to top the list of public health issues locally and across the state. Romanoff comes to Aspen on Monday at 8 AM at CMC to talk about mental health.
Listen to his interview on KDNK Community Radio here.
Mental Health Colorado: Mental health holds in jails have to go
By Jen Marnowski
Special to the Daily Record
One of the biggest mental health issues the Colorado General Assembly will address this session is the placement of individuals on involuntary mental health holds in jails. Current law allows law enforcement to put a person having a mental health crisis in jail, without charges, if they are a danger to themselves or others. Colorado is one of only six states where this practice is still legal.
The bill known as SB17-207 (Senate Bill 207) would stop this practice and improve the system of care set up to help people in ...
Bill expands mental health support for rural communities
KUSA - Mental illness is not a crime, yet Coloradans who suffer a mental health crisis can still find themselves in a jail cell for up to 24 hours.
A bill introduced into the Colorado Senate last week would do away with the practice that happens mostly in rural counties along the western slope that have limited access to mental health resources.
“We’re only one of six states left in the country that allows this practice,” Moe Keller said, vice president of public policy for Mental Health Colorado.
Keller sat on a panel made up of legislators, county ...
Colorado and Company KUSA-TV
Sign up for the Lead Workshop. It's Friday, March 10 at the PPA Event Center in Denver. Breakfast and lunch will be served. Register online at www.MentalHealthColorado.org. You can also call 720.208.2233 for more information. Registration closes Wednesday, March 8.
Boulder County study identifies mental health service gaps, barriers
Boulder County residents needing mental health and substance abuse treatment services face gaps in, and barriers of access to, available services, according to a recently released county report.
That Community of Hope Mental Health Community Assessment cited such problems as difficulties in getting access to services in a timely manner, the high costs of some services, a growing paucity in the county's behavioral science work force, limited prevention and early detection and intervention services, a scarcity of trained mental health providers in the schools, and a lack ...
How do we preserve mental health care as an essential benefit?
By Andrew Romanoff, Guest Commentary
What can we agree on?
That’s a question worth asking, as a new herd of lawmakers gathers in Denver and Washington. Last year’s elections probably convinced many Americans that the answer is “almost nothing at all.”
Not so fast.
While the presidential race proved to be one of the most divisive in recent memory, a few signs of consensus emerged in Colorado. The subject: mental health.
In August, our nonpartisan organization asked every candidate for the Colorado General Assembly where they stood on the prevention ...
