Legislative Priorities

Concerning the protection of vulnerable adults from financial exploitation in relation to financial institutions.

This bill ensures victim-survivors receive clear information following medical forensic exams, improves access to preventive medical care, expands trauma-informed training for peace officers, and allows accommodations in court proceedings to reduce re-traumatization. The bill also protects survivors from coercive arbitration agreements and retaliatory legal action, helping create safer pathways to seek justice without fear of further harm. 

This bill addresses discriminatory practices in transportation network services and strengthens accountability and protections for riders experiencing discrimination.

This bill modifies the statutory affirmative defense of not guilty by reason of insanity and clarifies standards for release and treatment.

This bill reduces reliance on opioids by improving insurance coverage parity for safer pain management alternatives.

This bill ensures older adults have representation in workforce data, planning, and strategy and creates reporting requirements to elevate workforce participation.

This bill expands Medicaid/insurance reimbursement for MAT in jails, allows crisis providers to transport under emergency holds, and transfers transportation licensing to CDPHE.

This bill extends county jail oversight standards to municipal jails, strengthening protections and accountability.

This bill updates Colorado’s Youthful Offender System to emphasize trauma-informed care, rehabilitation, equitable treatment for youth with disabilities, and stronger re-entry preparation and life-skills programming.

This bill allows a parent to voluntarily relinquish a newborn up to 30 days old, extending the current 72-hour window to better protect infant and maternal health and ensure safe options for families in crisis.

This bill aligns Colorado law with federal DEA scheduling and clarifies lawful use of FDA-approved prescription products.

Requires youth athlete coaches to receive basic mental health education and ensure parents are informed when a young athlete who sustains a concussion may experience related mental health impacts. Coaches are often the first trusted adults outside a child’s family to notice changes in mood, behavior, or performance — and equipping them with the right tools helps young athletes stay safe, supported, and seen both on and off the field.

Addresses the stigma surrounding behavioral health treatment for medical professionals in Colorado by modifying medical licensing application and renewal processes.

Eliminates the exception allowing evidence of a victim’s sexual conduct with the defendant in civil proceedings and prohibits the use of a victim’s appearance, speech, or lifestyle to suggest consent, credibility, or damages. It also requires pretrial motions to admit presumed irrelevant evidence to demonstrate admissibility, with protective orders limiting discovery to relevant issues.

Establishes procedures for sanity examinations in criminal cases involving a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, allowing flexibility in examination locations and prohibiting custody solely for the examination if the defendant is out on bond. It also prohibits visible restraints or prison attire during recorded examinations and repeals the use of narcoanalytic interviews and polygraph tests in such evaluations.

States it is an extenuating circumstance to facilitate a connection to a service provider. If a defendant remains in jail overnight, the defendant must be released by 10 a.m. the next morning. The bill makes an inmate eligible for special needs parole if the inmate is 55 years of age or older and suffers from a diagnosed severe cognitive impairment or serious impairment that limits the person’s ability to function.

Requires the department of public safety (DPS), in collaboration with the behavioral health administration (BHA), to convene a stakeholder group to identify existing resources and model programs that communities throughout Colorado utilize when responding to behavioral health crises, including, but not limited to, co-responder programs, alternative response programs, and mobile crisis response programs.

Permits DHS to continue to provide services for up to 90 days after the person’s case is dismissed because the person is incompetent to proceed. DHS is permitted to enter into an agreement with an organization to provide permanent supportive housing for a person whose case is dismissed because the person is incompetent to proceed or the person has successfully completed a bridges wraparound care program, and for a person who has been referred to the bridges wraparound care program.

Caps the maximum incarceration sentence for a municipal violation that has a comparable state law crime at the same length as the state-level offense. When there is no comparable state-level offense, the maximum period of incarceration is capped at the maximum for a state-level petty offense. Mandatory minimums and increased penalties based on prior convictions are prohibited unless the person is convicted of a municipal offense for which there is a comparable state offense or of an infraction that allows imposition of the same mandatory minimum or increased penalties based on prior convictions. The bill also caps a consecutive municipal sentence at 2 times the highest charge in the case.

Allows the Department of Corrections to include peer-to-peer behavioral health services as part of initiatives designed to help offenders transition from correctional facilities to the community.

Clarifies that the health benefits coverage for the prevention of, screening for, and treatment of behavioral, mental health, and substance use disorders must be no less extensive than the coverage provided for any physical illness.

Expands the definition of a “qualified individual” authorized to certify causes of death to include physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice registered nurses, and institutional chief medical officers. It also requires these individuals to register with the electronic death registration system before signing death certificates.

Requires that health insurance policies for maternity care include prenatal care coverage without cost sharing.

Requires the Colorado school of public health to analyze draft model legislation for implementing a single-payer, nonprofit, publicly financed, and privately delivered universal health-care payment system for Colorado that directly compensates providers.

Requires the Safe2Tell program to provide a handle-with-care notice to a school when a student has had an adverse childhood experience that involves a peace officer response. A school shall only share the notice with school staff who need to know about the notice, and no further action is required by the school.

Requires the state board of education to adopt high school health education standards regarding drug overdose risks, identification of a drug overdose event, and drug overdose prevention and response. The bill authorizes the state board of education to seek, accept, and expend gifts, grants, or donations for the purpose of adopting these standards.

Establishes certain requirements for social media companies and social media platforms in order to protect Colorado minor users.

Increases support for schools to purchase more food from Colorado, boosting local economies. It enhances meal quality by reducing processed foods and increasing fresh ingredients. It expands access so that more students benefit.

Mandates that by July 1, 2026, all charter and public schools adopt and implement policies outlining rules and exceptions for student communication device possession and use during the school day.

Requires the Office of School Safety to convene a work group by September 1, 2025, to develop trauma-informed best practices for school safety drills. By June 30, 2026, the group must provide recommendations for training school personnel, conducting drills, and responding to safety incidents, which will be submitted to key state education officials and committees.

Prohibits a law enforcement officer or emergency service patrol officer who takes a person into protective custody from detaining the person in jail and requires involved entities and officers to provide reports to the behavioral health administration.

Creates the bridges wraparound care program in the office of bridges of Colorado to increase the success of eligible individuals referred from the criminal justice system by connecting the individuals to necessary wraparound care coordination services, resulting in case dismissal, continuity of care, and increased social stability.f

Excludes injuries involving the possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia from a physician’s mandatory reporting requirements; clarifies that the civil and criminal immunity that protects a person who acts in good faith to furnish or administer an opioid antagonist also protects a person who distributes the opioid antagonist; adds an exemption to the prohibition on possessing drug paraphernalia for possession of drug paraphernalia that a person received from an approved syringe exchange program or a program carried out by a harm reduction organization while the person was participating in the program; specifies that money appropriated to the department of public health and environment to purchase non-laboratory synthetic opiate detection tests may also be used to purchase other drug testing equipment; authorizes an organization operating a clean syringe exchange program to provide drug testing services through the program; and updates terminology.

Reforms and clarifies the criminal competency to proceed process: it provides necessary parties with access to information related to the defendant’s claim of incompetency to proceed; requires the department of human services to search prior competency evaluations in its possession when the court orders a competency evaluation or the court finds the defendant incompetent to proceed and provide any evaluations to the court; adds to the information that is included in a competency report; delineates a court’s options when it finds that a defendant is incompetent to proceed; directs when competency services may be provided on an outpatient basis; and sets forth the circumstances when a court has to dismiss the defendant’s case based on the highest level of charge against the defendant and how long the defendant has been waiting for restoration services.

Specifies that the governing body of a municipality, which includes a city, town, and city and county, may authorize the operation of an overdose prevention center within the municipality’s boundaries for the purpose of saving the lives of persons at risk of preventable overdoses.

Allows the adoption of a policy for maintaining a supply of opiate antagonists on school buses and extends existing civil and criminal immunity to school bus operators and other employees present on buses if they furnish or administer an opiate antagonist in good faith, in addition to other requirements.

Requires the general assembly to annually adjust for inflation the general fund appropriation for state funding for senior services.

Creates a sales and use tax exemption for baby and toddler products and a sales and use tax holiday for children’s back-to-school items.

Requires the behavioral health administration (BHA) to require all eating disorder treatment and recovery facilities to hold an appropriate designation based on the level of care the treatment facility provides. Licensed clinicians who are not facility-based and offer behavioral health therapy on an outpatient basis are not required to hold a designation. The bill directs the state board of human services to promulgate rules for treatment facilities. The bill requires the BHA to promulgate rules concerning involuntary feeding tubes for individuals with an eating disorder.

Directs the department of health care policy and financing to conduct a feasibility study to explore the feasibility of seeking federal authorization to provide nutrition and housing services that address medicaid members’ health-related social needs (HRSN). The state department shall report the study’s findings to the joint budget committee on or before November 10, 2024. The study and report must address integrating HRSN services with existing housing-related and nutrition-related services.

Requires the general assembly, the secretary of state, and each political party to ensure that the caucus process or any future alternative process by which candidates may access the ballot that is accessible to persons with disabilities remains an option in the state.

Enacts the “Violence Prevention in Health-care Settings Act”, applicable to hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, nursing care facilities, assisted living residences, and federally qualified health centers, and the “Violence Prevention in Behavioral Health Settings Act”, applicable to comprehensive community behavioral health providers.

Extends the duties of the Legislative Oversight Committee for Colorado Jail Standards that address and improve the rights of people incarcerated in jails, including access to health care, visitation, housing and more.

Prohibits a carrier that provides coverage under a health benefit plan for a drug used to treat a substance use disorder from requiring prior authorization for the drug based solely on the dosage amount.

Requires the department of public health and environment to conduct or cause to be conducted a gender-affirming health-care provider study.

Decreases limitations on drugs covered under an individual’s health insurance policy that are administered by a provider in a setting other than a hospital.

Enacts the “Social Work Licensure Compact,” which is designed to (1) eliminate the necessity for social workers to obtain licenses from multiple states; (2) facilitate the exchange of licensure and disciplinary information among member states; (3) authorize member states to hold a regulated social worker accountable for abiding by a member state’s laws, regulations, and applicable professional standards; and (4) allow for the use of telehealth to facilitate increased access to regulated social work services.

Continues the youth mental health services program commonly known as ‘I Matter,’ and requires an annual evaluation of the program.

Requires the department of health care policy and financing, in collaboration with the behavioral health administration (BHA) and the department of human services, to develop a system of care for children and youth who are less than 21 years of age and who have complex behavioral health needs.

Establishes a statutory bill of rights for children and youth in foster care in Colorado.

Requires the department of early childhood to provide child care licensing resources in prevalent languages.

Makes 3 primary clarifications about the remedies a person with a disability is entitled to under current Colorado law related to protections against discrimination on the basis of disability for persons with disabilities. It allows a court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff for any action commenced pursuant to certain Colorado law related to protections against discrimination on the basis of disability for persons with disabilities.

Prohibits a peace officer from arresting a person based solely on the alleged commission of a petty offense, except for petty theft, a drug petty offense, a class 2 traffic misdemeanor or comparable municipal offense, and all municipal offenses for which there is no comparable state misdemeanor offense, unless the location of the person is unknown and the issuance of an arrest warrant is necessary in order to subject the person to the jurisdiction of the court.

Removes the requirement that if a defendant is in jail or an inpatient setting, a finding that the defendant is an imminent danger to the defendant’s self or others is required for the competency evaluation and report.

Specifies that a city may authorize the operation of an overdose prevention center within the city’s jurisdiction for the purpose of saving the lives of persons at risk of preventable overdoses.

Extends immunity from arrest and prosecution to the following criminal offenses: (1) Unlawful possession of a controlled substance if the material, compound, mixture, or preparation contains fentanyl, carfentanil, benzimidazole opiate, or an analog thereof; and (2) unlawful distribution or transfer of the controlled substance for the purpose of consuming all of the controlled substance with another person at a time substantially contemporaneous with the transfer, if the distribution or transfer involves certain controlled substances.

Allows a health-care provider to prescribe, dispense, or administer a schedule II, III, IV, or V controlled substance to a patient in the course of treatment for a diagnosed condition that causes chronic pain.

Creates the Colorado multidisciplinary health-care provider access training program (program) to improve the health care of medically complex, costly, compromised, and vulnerable older Coloradans.

Creates the Colorado commodity supplemental food grant program to provide grants of money to aid county departments of human or social services, food banks, and food pantries in purchasing and distributing food packages to qualifying low-income older Colorado adults.

Allows an employee to use accrued paid sick leave when the employee needs to (1) care for a family member whose school or place of care has been closed due to inclement weather, loss of power, loss of heating, loss of water, or other unexpected occurrence or event that results in the closure of the family member’s school or place of care; or (2) grieve, attend funeral services or a memorial, or deal with financial and legal matters that arise after the death of a family member.

Appropriates $3 million annually from the general fund to the food pantry assistance grant program for the 2023-24 state fiscal year through the 2026-27 state fiscal year.

Imposes requirements for certain types of employers with regard to: (1) The determination of employee work schedules; (2) Employee requests for changes to work schedules; and (3) Notices and posting of employee work schedules.

Prohibits certain health benefit plans or the state medical assistance program from utilizing the body mass index, ideal body weight, or any other standard requiring an achieved weight when determining medical necessity criteria or appropriate level of care for an individual with a diagnosed eating disorder. This bill prohibits a retail establishment from selling, transferring, or otherwise furnishing dietary supplements for weight loss or over-the-counter diet pills to any individual under 18 years of age without a prescription. This bill requires the behavioral health administration (BHA) to promulgate rules concerning forced feeding tubes for individuals with an eating disorder and, no later than July 1, 2024, the bill requires the BHA to require all eating disorder treatment and recovery facilities to hold an appropriate designation based on the level of care the facility provides.

Requires the department of health care policy and financing to create a limited risk factors that influence health benefit for medicaid recipients under 21 years of age who experience a qualifying risk factor that influences health.

Prohibits the department of health care policy and financing from imposing prior authorization, step therapy, and fail first requirements for medicaid coverage of a prescription drug, as indicated on federally approved labels, to treat serious mental health disorders.

Authorizes the department of health care policy and financing to seek federal authorization from the centers for medicare and medicaid services to provide medicaid reimbursement for community health worker services.

Clarifies the process for treating a supervised or unsupervised person in a private treatment program in Colorado and directs the program to assist the supervised or unsupervised person with registering with the interstate compact administrator.

Requires the Colorado school of public health to analyze model legislation for implementing a publicly financed and privately delivered universal health-care payment system for Colorado that directly compensates providers.

Creates a behavioral health treatment voucher pilot program to allow persons experiencing a behavioral health crisis who cannot find treatment with a behavioral health administration safety net provider to receive a voucher to use for payment with a private treatment provider.

Defines “serious mental illness” and prohibits the protocols from requiring a person to try more than one prescription drug prior to receiving coverage for the drug recommended by the person’s health-care provider. If certain conditions are met and attested to by the person’s health-care provider, the carrier, private utilization review organization, or pharmacy benefit manager must cover the drug recommended by the person’s health-care provider.

Requires a landlord and residential tenant to participate in mandatory mediation prior to commencing an eviction action if the residential tenant receives supplemental security income, federal social security disability insurance, or cash assistance through the Colorado works program.

Regulates the use of restrictive practices on individuals in correctional facilities. The bill prohibits the use of a clinical restraint on an individual unless certain criteria are met, and requires facilities that utilize clinical restraints to implement procedures to ensure frequent and consistent monitoring for the individual subjected to the clinical restraint and uniform documentation procedures concerning the use of the clinical restraint.

Requires public and private higher education institutions to print Colorado and national crisis and suicide prevention contact information on student identification cards. If an institution does not use student identification cards, the bill requires the school to distribute Colorado and national crisis and suicide prevention contact information to the student body each semester or trimester.

Requires the department of health care policy and financing to create a limited risk factors that influence health benefit for medicaid recipients under 21 years of age who experience a qualifying risk factor that influences health. The bill requires the benefit to include access to certain behavioral health services.

Establishes the Colorado fostering success voucher program in the department of human services. The purpose of the program is to provide housing vouchers and case management services to eligible youth.

Requires the department of human services to promulgate rules that facilitate communication and family time between children and their parents who are incarcerated.

Requires each school district board of education, institute charter school board for a charter school authorized by the state charter school institute, or governing board of a board of cooperative services to adopt a policy to address disproportionate disciplinary practices in public schools.

Prohibits a person employed by or volunteering in a public school, a state-licensed child care center, a family child care home, or a specialized group facility from imposing corporal punishment on a child. The bill defines “corporal punishment” as the willful infliction of, or willfully causing the infliction of, physical pain on a child.

Addresses issues related to a determination of juvenile competency to proceed and restoration of competency. If the court determines that the juvenile is incompetent to proceed and unlikely to be restored to competency in the reasonably foreseeable future, a time frame is set forth for the dismissal of charges based on the severity and type of charge.

Creates the secondary school student substance use committee (committee) in the department of education (department) to develop a practice, or identify or modify an existing practice, for secondary schools to implement that identifies students who need substance use treatment, offers a brief intervention, and refers the student to substance use treatment resources.

Requires additions to Colorado taxable income in amounts equal to the business meals federal itemized deduction, providing funding for the small business recovery and resilience grant program, creating a tax credit for certain purchases eligible for that grant program, and providing funding for healthy eating program incentives.

Creates the sixth through twelfth grade mental health assessment program administered by the department of public health and environment. The bill authorizes the department to promulgate rules as necessary to implement and administer the program.

Establishes the early intervention, deflection, and redirection from the criminal justice system grant program in the behavioral health administration (BHA) to provide grants to local governments, federally recognized Indian tribes, health-care providers, community-based organizations, and nonprofit organizations to fund programs and strategies that prevent people with behavioral health needs from becoming involved with the criminal justice system or that redirect individuals in the criminal justice system with behavioral health needs from the system to appropriate services.

Creates in the peace officers standards and training (P.O.S.T.) board the safe neighborhoods grant program to provide grants to local law enforcement agencies to provide critical incident training to the agencies’ peace officers.

Requires every defendant to be automatically enrolled in the court reminder program and allows a defendant to opt out of the program and requires the program to provide at least 3 reminders (rather than 2), including one reminder the day before the court appearance, and, for court appearances that can be attended virtually, the final reminder must include a link to the virtual court appearance.

Expands the existing pretrial diversion program to include diversion programs that are intended to identify eligible individuals with behavioral health disorders and divert such individuals out of the criminal justice system and into community treatment programs.

Creates the Colorado jail standards commission in the department of public safety. The commission creates standards for the operation of Colorado’s county jails and updates the standards as necessary.

Allows the Court to order an individual found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) to be placed on conditional release immediately after being acquitted NGRI. It also sets up more regular reporting to the court related to the need for NGRI clients to remain institutionalized at CMHIP.

Clarifies that each licensed health-care practitioner must query the prescription drug monitoring program prior to filling a prescription for every opioid or benzodiazepine and requires the group tasked with developing a strategic plan to reduce prescription drug misuse to also make recommendations to the executive director of the department of regulatory agencies concerning balancing the use of the program as a health-care tool with enforcement of the requirements of the program.

Creates the Colorado multidisciplinary geriatric provider pipeline program in the university of Colorado Anschutz medical campus. The program coordinates and expands geriatric training opportunities for clinical graduate students enrolled in participating institutions of higher education who study in the health-care fields of medicine, medicine with a focus on training to be a physician assistant, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, psychology, and social work. It also creates the geriatric training executive advisory committee to ensure that the training for the program is consistent and collaborative across the health-care fields of study.

Renames the area agency on aging grant program to the strategic investments in aging grant program. The grant program administers state assistance to finance projects across the state that are intended to assist and support older Coloradans. The bill extends the grant program indefinitely to continue the support of projects that promote the health, equity, well-being, and security of older Coloradans across the state.

Requires the following facilities to provide dementia training for staff providing direct-care services to clients and residents of the facilities: The department of public health and environment, regarding nursing care facilities and assisted living residences. The medical services board in the department of health care policy and financing, regarding adult day care facilities.

Updates the “Older Coloradans’ Act.” The purpose of the act is to support older Coloradans through community planning, social services, health and well-being services, and strategies to prepare the state’s infrastructure for an increasing older population of Coloradans.

Specifies that a patient admitted to a hospital for inpatient care and a resident of a nursing care facility or assisted living residence may have at least one visitor of the patient’s or resident’s choosing during the stay or residency.

Provides comprehensive public health insurance coverage to children, pregnant and postpartum undocumented Coloradans, and make a number of other investments in perinatal care and services in Colorado.

Requires the behavioral health administration (BHA) in the department of human services (department) to create and implement a behavioral health-care provider workforce plan on or before September 1, 2022.

Requires the BHA to train new and existing navigators on behavioral health safety net system services, behavioral health service delivery procedures, and social determinants of health resources; ensure that the care coordination infrastructure can direct individuals where to seek in-person or virtual navigation support; ensure that the administrative burden associated with provider enrollment and credentialing for navigators and care coordination providers is minimal; and include a summary of outcomes for individuals who access the infrastructure in the BHA’s annual report. For the 2022-23 state fiscal year, the bill requires the general assembly to appropriate $12.2 million from the behavioral and mental health cash fund to the department of human services for use by the behavioral health administration for the care coordination infrastructure.

Requires each managed care entity, administrative service organization, and managed service organization that has 25% or more provider ownership to comply with certain conflict of interest policies in order to promote transparency and accountability.

Enacts the “Interstate Licensed Professional Counselors Compact”, which, once effective, will allow licensed professional counselors in any state that has joined the compact (member state) to provide (1) licensed professional counselor services in each member state under a privilege to practice and (2) Telehealth services in each member state under a privilege to practice.

Allocates $5 million to create a pilot grant program that will help local law enforcement officials recruit, train, and retain police officers from diverse backgrounds, and improve diversity in policing. The bill also allocates an additional $5 million to the Peace Officers Behavioral Health Support and Community Partnership Fund, which can be used for mental health support for law enforcement as well as alternative community response and co-responder models.

Creates the connecting Coloradans experiencing homelessness with services, treatment, and housing supports grant program, administered by the division of housing in the department of local affairs.

Changes current state law to align with the federal ‘No Surprises Act’.

Appropriates $90 million from the behavioral and mental health cash fund to the state department for the establishment and execution of the community behavioral health-care continuum gap grant program in the behavioral health administration. The BHA must develop a behavioral health-care services assessment tool that grant applicants can use to identify regional gaps in services on the behavioral health-care service continuum.

Creates the behavioral health administration (BHA) in the department of human services to create a coordinated, cohesive, and effective behavioral health system in the state. The BHA will handle most of the behavioral health programs that were previously handled by the office of behavioral health in the department. The bill establishes a commissioner as the head of the BHA and authorizes the commissioner and state board of human services to adopt and amend rules that previously were promulgated by the executive director of the department.

Modifies current laws that set forth (1) emergency procedures to transport a person for a screening and to detain a person for a 72-hour treatment and evaluation, as well as (2) procedures to certify a person for short-term or long-term care and treatment, if the person appears to have a mental health disorder. More specifically, it changes who is responsible for transporting the person, limits who can take a person into protective custody and transfer them, requires the transfer facility to document fully the conditions under which they received a person in protective custody among other screening and rights updates for the person in protective custody.

Requires crisis system facilities and programs, including crisis walk-in centers and mobile crisis programs, to meet minimum standards to provide mental health and substance use disorder services.

Grants a survivor of torture who is receiving care and rehabilitation services from a rehabilitative service provider eligibility for medical assistance without federal financial participation.

Requires district courts to hold an initial bond hearing with an arrested individual within 48 hours of the person being detained regardless of the day of the week. Under current law, the requirement is “within 2 calendar days – excluding Sundays and holidays.”

Extends the state credit program through 2034 and increases the amount of credit the Colorado Housing & Finance Authority may allocate annually from $10 million to $15 million starting January 1, 2023. The current program is set to expire in 2024.

Expands the number of health-care preceptors (experienced practitioners who teach and supervise students or less experienced practitioners) who can claim the tax credit, extends the tax credit through 2033, expands eligibility to offer and participate in preceptorship, allows for the counting of nonconsecutive days, and puts in place some definition and certification changes.

Creates the ‘healthy school meals for all’ program in the department of education to reimburse school food authorities for free meals provided to students who are not eligible for free or reduced-price meals under the federal school meals programs.

Requires all public higher education institutions in Colorado to waive undergraduate tuition and fees for Colorado resident students who have been in foster care. The institutions are required to designate an employee to serve as a liaison to qualifying or prospective qualifying students.

Creates in-home and residential respite care in 10-12 regions of the state for children and families; provides operational support for psychiatric residential treatment facilities and qualified residential treatment programs for youth; provides funds to build and staff a neuro-psych facility at the Colorado mental health institute at Fort Logan. The bill requires the general assembly to appropriate money from the behavioral and mental health cash fund to the department of human services to implement the provisions of the bill.

Creates the school security disbursement program cash fund and appropriates $6,000,000 to the fund, which the department of public safety may disburse to school districts, charter schools, and boards of cooperative services to improve security within public schools. The bill continues the temporary youth mental health services program and the bi-annual reporting requirements until June 30, 2024, and appropriates $2 million from the behavioral and mental health cash fund to the department of education for the behavioral health care professional matching grant program.

Raises the current minimum age for juvenile court jurisdiction, thereby prohibiting arrest, prosecution, and detention of children aged 12 and younger, except for homicide cases, protecting them from the negative impacts of formal justice system involvement and reducing future risk to community safety.

Requires each student I.D. card issued to a public school student to contain the phone number, website address, and text talk number for the 24-hour Colorado crisis services.

Establishes a commission in the attorney general’s office that will work to improve first responder training concerning interactions with persons with disabilities.

Creates a pilot program to determine whether a brain injury program would improve outcomes for offenders. The bill would also identify and support individuals with a brain injury in the criminal justice system.

Makes changes to the current juvenile diversion program to reduce harm from juvenile involvement in the justice system.

This bill will reduce the number of people incarcerated pretrial. It limits the use of money bonds for misdemeanors and low-level felonies to cases where there is a safety risk or a flight risk.

Ends the use of solitary confinement in Colorado jails for people with specific health conditions. As with many other states in the nation, individuals with serious mental health conditions are entering the criminal justice system at alarming rates, often as a result of unmet health needs. Not only are individuals with mental health conditions more likely to be incarcerated longer, they are also more likely to be placed in solitary confinement while in jail. The practice of solitary confinement has detrimental impacts on individuals with health conditions such as mental health disorders and dementia. Multiple studies have shown that the psychological stress created from solitary is comparable to the distress of physical torture.

Creates the “Guard Training and Standards Act” that would create standards and regulations for private security guards and require private security guards to obtain a license to practice.

Expands the peace officers mental health support grant program to include funding for on-scene response services to enhance law enforcement’s handling of calls for services related to persons with mental health disorders and social service needs.

Creates regulation to provide more appropriate transportation services, different from patrol cars or traditional ambulance services, for individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

This omnibus bill allocates money to a number of valuable mental health and substance use programs.

This bill would make it easier to purchase opiate antagonists to increasingly reduce the harms from opiates.

Allows pharmacists to be eligible for reimbursement of long-acting injectables under the medical assistance program. This bill will help improve health outcomes and access to health care, address workforce shortage issues, and save taxpayer dollars across multiple intersecting systems.

Broadens Colorado’s suicide prevention efforts to include intervention and postvention. Importantly, it will help ensure training and education for health care providers, first and last responders, and educators, and develop a plan for follow-up care for suicide attempt survivors who are treated in an emergency department.

Allows an adult with a disability to enter into a decision-making agreement with a member of the supportive community to assist the individual in accessing, understanding, and communicating any relevant life decisions.

Phases out subminimum wage for employers who are authorized to pay less than the minimum wage to employees whose earning capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental disability, or injury.

Extends the period of eviction notices and actions, and prohibits residential landlords from increasing rent more than once in a 12-month period.

Requires that health plans cover annual mental health wellness exams, performed by qualified mental health care providers, comparable to the coverage for an annual physical wellness exam.

Colorado’s suicide rate is one of the highest in the nation, especially for youth. Studies show most suicide attempts are made within three hours or less of someone having suicidal thoughts, and some in as little as 5 minutes. Colorado needs a fast and easily accessible support system for individuals in need of immediate mental health services and supports. The proposed bill would enact federal legislation establishing the 9-8-8 crisis response number and creates a sustainable funding option for receiving and responding to those calls in the community.

Establishes a training and treatment model for those who work with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and co-occurring behavioral health needs.

Expands the community transition specialist program by redefining “high-risk individual” to allow more individuals to access program services. The bill also expands facilities that can access program services.

Creates a Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) to lead, promote, and administer Colorado’s behavioral health priorities.

Fair and equal access to all available programs, benefits, and services related to out-of-home placement must be provided in a manner that is culturally responsive to the complex social identity of the youth receiving such services. A service provider is prohibited from denying any person the opportunity to become an adoptive or a foster parent, or delaying or denying the placement of a child for adoption or into foster care, on the basis of the real or perceived disability, race, creed, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, or any communicable disease, including HIV, of the prospective adoptive or foster parent or the child.

Expands the reach of peer recovery support service programs by ensuring that peers are more widely available, reasonably compensated, and well trained.

Allocates funding to provide screenings and 3 free mental health sessions to support Colorado’s youth in pandemic recovery. The program will begin no later than May 31, 2021, and will run until June 30, 2022.

Suspends state assessments in the 2020-21 school year.

Creates a foster youth-in-transition program to be implemented throughout the state. The program will allow foster youth who meet eligibility criteria to voluntarily continue to receive certain child welfare services (services) so that youth do not lose access to essential services on their eighteenth birthday.

Reform the criminal justice system for individuals who are languishing in jail awaiting competency restoration and create a work group to look at how enhanced sentencing laws disproportionately impact individuals with specific health conditions.

Reduces the potential harm caused by substance use disorders.

Improves outcomes for individuals with substance use disorders who come into contact with the criminal justice system.

Raises the minimum age of a person to whom cigarettes, tobacco products, and nicotine products may be sold from 18 years of age to 21 years of age.

Increases access to the Medicaid buy-in program for certain working adults with disabilities who have become ineligible for the program due to age.

Increases health care workforce, protects women and families, and other measures designed to assist an individual’s recovery from a substance use disorder.

Expands workers’ compensation benefits for workers, such as 911 dispatchers and first responders, who are exposed to psychologically traumatic events.

Improves insurance coverage and increases access to care for substance use disorders.

Prohibits discrimination based on source of income. A landlord with more than 3 rental units will not be able to refuse rent, lease, show for rent or lease, or transmit an offer to rent or lease housing based on a person’s income.

Creates a new transportation alternative for people in a mental health crisis so that people are not transported by law enforcement to a health care facility.

Improves how peer support services are billed and creates a peer tax credit, increasing access to care and promoting workforce development.

Creates a website with information and links to available mental health care services in each geographic region and encourages health care professionals to take a course in mental health education.

Requires health insurance coverage for an annual mental health wellness examination.

Prevents substance use disorders.

Builds statewide capacity to create supportive housing, improving health outcomes and addressing homelessness.

Phases out below-minimum wage employment so that employers must pay standard minimum wage or more regardless of a person’s health condition.

Aids uninsured people in obtaining health care coverage.

Requires a court to suppress court records related to an eviction proceeding in process, or a denied eviction proceeding, so that the records are not publicly available.

Extends a program for therapeutic group treatment for youth.

Requires that school attendance policy must allow excuses for an absence to include behavioral health disorders or concerns.

Expands behavioral health training for kindergarten through twelfth grade educators.

Requires that 10 out of the 90 hours required for teacher re-certification include some form of behavioral health training that is culturally responsive and trauma- and evidence-informed.

Promotes developmentally appropriate strategies to ensure healthy learning environments for students.

Supports growth and development of the early childhood educator workforce, increases consistency and quality of child care.

Supports early childhood education program efforts to increase ratings for quality.

Improves consistency and quality of child welfare service programs for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Creates a public awareness campaign and a series of workshops focused on increasing the number of early childhood workers. Also raises awareness about what young children need to know when entering kindergarten.

Improves a statewide program of early childhood mental health consultation to support mental health care across the state in early childhood settings and practices.

Clarifies that the Safe2tell program does not have to provide information about a call to law enforcement and school personnel if the call was forwarded to the statewide crisis response system. It also devises a process and procedures for routing calls appropriately.

Concerning the safe use, storage, and disposal of antagonist drugs; and making an appropriation.

The act amends existing programs that provide access to substance use disorder treatment to pregnant and parenting women up to one year postpartum. The act creates child care pilot programs for parenting women engaged in substance use disorder treatment. The act:

Concerning licensing behavioral health entities, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.

Concerning the expansion of the medication-assisted treatment expansion pilot program, and, in connection therewith, shifting administration of the program from the college of nursing to the center for research into substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery support strategies; expanding the counties that may participate in the program; extending the duration of the program; increasing the funding for the program; and making an appropriation.

Concerning methods to increase access to treatment for behavioral health disorders, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.

The act prohibits a person from intentionally posting or distributing, through the use of social media or any website, or disseminating through other means, an image of a minor attempting suicide, dying by suicide, or having died by suicide, with the intent to harass, intimidate, or coerce any person, and the posting or distribution results in serious emotional distress to any person.

The act allows a minor 12 years of age or older to seek and obtain psychotherapy services with or without the consent of the minor’s parent or guardian if the mental health professional determines the minor is knowingly and voluntarily seeking the psychotherapy services and the psychotherapy services are clinically necessary.

The act creates the ability for a family or household member or a law enforcement officer to petition the court for a temporary extreme risk protection order (ERPO) beginning on January 1, 2020.

Concerning the identification of certain individuals with a substance use disorder; and making an appropriation.

Concerning a mental health facility pilot program, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.

Concerning treatment of individuals with substance use disorders who come into contact with the criminal justice system, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.

Concerning supports for persons recovering from substance use disorders, and, in connection therewith, expanding a program in the department of local affairs that provides vouchers for housing assistance to certain individuals, creating standards for recovery residences for purposes of referrals and title protection, creating the opioid crisis recovery funds advisory committee, creating the recovery residence certification grant program, and making an appropriation.

Concerning actions related to competency to proceed, and, in connection therewith, making and reducing an appropriation.

Concerning the improvement of access to behavioral health services for individuals at risk of institutionalization, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.

Concerning measures to improve behavioral health care coverage practices, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.

Concerning enhancements to behavioral health services and policy coordination for children and youth, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.

Concerning increasing access to school social workers in public elementary schools, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.

Concerning professional behavioral health services for schools, and, in connection therewith, making an appropriation.