Rural Colorado Kids Need Coaches Who Recognize Mental Health Signs

Too many rural kids are struggling with their mental health, and we don’t have nearly enough trained professionals to help them. That’s where Senate Bill 26-060, also known as Alyssa’s Act, comes in.

Access to counselors, therapists, and psychiatrists has always been limited in rural areas. But as school budgets have shrunk and populations declined, the situation has only gotten worse. Children’s Hospital Colorado reported a 26 percent spike in emergency room visits for youth mental health last summer, and the number of kids needing inpatient care jumped more than 55 percent between 2020 and 2024.

This isn’t just a Front Range problem. Rural families are driving hours to get their children care — if they can get it at all. Alyssa’s Act, brought to us in part by Mental Health Colorado’s statewide grassroots network of Coloradans with lived experience, is looking to fill that gap by giving youth sports coaches more tools to help get our kids the help they need.

The bill requires annual mental health training so coaches know what warning signs look like, how to respond appropriately, and when to loop in parents. We’re not asking coaches to become therapists; we’re simply asking them to be informed, prepared, and aware, the same way we already ask them to know CPR in case a player goes down on the field.