What’s Happening in Colorado
* Last week, Dannette Smith, Colorado’s new Commissioner of the Behavioral Health Administration started in her role.
We welcome the new commissioner and look forward to working together to improve health in Colorado.
* The Joint Budget Committee approved a spending plan last week for next fiscal year that would invest heavily in state workers and medical services, eliminate Colorado’s K-12 funding shortfall, and limit tuition increases for in-state students.
Earlier in the week, the panel faced a potential $170 million shortfall and had to do a lot of cutting to balance the budget. This will certainly impact the 2024 Legislative Session and the bills that will be passed.
* Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced the opening of the La Paz community in Overland Park, a collection of 60 tiny homes to address unsheltered Coloradans.
This micro-community will include wraparound services with a pathway to permanent housing and stability.
* The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative released its “State of Homelessness 2023,” a comprehensive look into homelessness in the region.
According to the report, deteriorating relationships with families and partners was a leading cause of homelessness in the area alongside an ability to pay rent as a second-most common factor.
A View from Washington, D.C.
* President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address earlier this month.
He covered a range of issues including the state of politics in our nation, reproductive rights, the mental health crisis, and the economy.
Listen to or read his full remarks here.
* The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced the availability of nearly $50 million for HRSA’s Rural Opioid Treatment and Recovery Initiative and released the initiative’s funding application.
Funding will support establishing and expanding comprehensive substance use disorder treatment and recovery services in rural areas, including by increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder, such as buprenorphine.
* Last month, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) granted approval to Montana to provide contingency management, tenancy supports, and Reentry Initiative services under its Section 1115 Healing and Ending Addiction through Recovery and Treatment (HEART) Demonstration.
This amendment approval builds on the existing HEART Demonstration which provides the State expenditure authority to cover short-term stays at institutions for mental disease (IMDs) for individuals diagnosed with a substance use disorder (SUD). The HEART Demonstration is effective through June 30, 2027.
* Last November, Colorado Congressman Ken Buck (R-CO-04) announced he was leaving Congress after 9 years in office.
Last week, Rep. Buck concluded his term early saying “This place just keeps going downhill. And I don’t need to spend my time here.”
