DENVER, CO – Mental Health Colorado (MHC) and the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition (CCDC) are non-profit consumer health advocacy organizations included among healthcare industry partners as founding members of the People First Behavioral Health Alliance (PFBHA), a coalition of healthcare providers, networks, advocates, and payers committed to shaping behavioral health policy around the needs of the people they serve. The coalition unites entities committed to putting people at the center of behavioral health systems, working to advance policies and practices that improve access to care, support and services.
“The launch of the People First Alliance is a promising new direction for the health and well-being of Coloradans,” said Vincent Atchity, President and CEO of MHC. “Far too often, patients’ lived experiences get lost in the very systems that are meant to serve them. That’s why Mental Health Colorado is honored to have been included in the founding of the People First Alliance, which is committed to bringing people with lived experience into both the policy development process and the practice of providing care. With the health and well-being of Coloradans as our steady north star, Mental Health Colorado is ever mindful of what Coloradans are needing and experiencing, as we remain tuned in to our Brain Wave and other advocates and coalitions across the state. We look forward to bringing all that lived experience to our work with fellow coalition members to ensure that the PFBHA remains accountable to its mission of putting people first.”
“Putting people at the center of health policy and care is essential to building a system that truly works for Coloradans,” said Julie Reiskin, Co-Executive Director of the CCDC. “The People First Behavioral Health Alliance is an opportunity to make that change by ensuring people with lived experience are part of the important conversations that providers, payers and policymakers are having. By listening to one another and sharing what we’re seeing across Colorado, we can better identify where our system is falling short and we can work together to build solutions that reflect what Coloradans actually need. That’s what it means to put people first – not just in name, but in how we approach policy, care, and the future of healthcare in Colorado.”
The People First Behavioral Health Alliance is organizing its work around three interconnected priorities:
- System Accountability: PFBHA will advocate to reduce barriers to service access, increase efficiency in the use of state resources, and build reforms designed to outlast any single budget cycle or administration.
- Integrated Support: PFBHA will pursue alignment of care access, payment, and management approaches across physical and behavioral health, with the goal of wrapping care around the person rather than forcing the person to navigate between systems.
- Equitable Care: PFBHA will work to align incentives and financing so that care reaches rural and underserved communities, expand language-accessible and culturally specific services, and reduce the structural barriers that keep people from seeking help.
The Brain Wave is Mental Health Colorado’s statewide network of over 1,600 grassroots advocates who are the driving force behind the organization’s policy work. It represents an organized community of people with lived experience, family members, providers, and allies. Its storytelling approach illustrates the real-world barriers to care and connects advocates with opportunities to share their experiences with lawmakers, the media, and community partners.
The Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, or CCDC, is Colorado’s premier disability rights advocacy organization. Run by and for people with disabilities, CCDC advocates for social justice for Coloradans with all types of disabilities, so that all Coloradans with disabilities can live full, equitable lives with equal access to any civic, professional, and/or personal opportunities that are available to people without disabilities.