DATE: July 16, 2025:

Mental Health Colorado deeply regrets the closure of Safer and shares the disappointment felt by the community. As a small nonprofit with limited resources, we exhausted every potential funding option before making this incredibly difficult decision. The funding crisis affecting state and local agencies, health care organizations, and nonprofits like ourselves has sadly made continuing Safer impossible.

We are working closely with partners and stakeholders to ensure that no resident is left without safe housing. We are moving quickly but thoughtfully to make this happen.

Any public dollars or grant funds, including those used to purchase the building, will be returned to the grantors as required by our agreements.

While we understand the frustration and sadness around this closure, MHC remains committed to making the case for broader, systemic solutions so that programs like this one which provide an alternative to homelessness and incarceration can take root and thrive in the communities that need them.

DATE: July 14, 2025

Today, Mental Health Colorado (MHC) is sharing an update on the closure of the Safer program due to funding concerns. As federal and state funding becomes tighter and less available, local and state agencies such as Arapahoe County, the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, AllHealth Network, Colorado Access and Signal Behavioral Health Network are assisting with care coordination for 21 individuals prior to the Safer program’s full closure.

Operating for five years, Safer has worked to disentangle mental health and criminal justice by providing transitional shelter and supportive services for individuals experiencing homelessness, mental health conditions and justice system involvement.

MHC’s top priority now is ensuring all the people sheltering at Safer are securely and appropriately relocated. MHC is working closely with local and state agencies and other trusted partners to support those affected during this transition. While MHC needs to relocate people due to operational funding constraints, MHC is focused on doing so thoughtfully and carefully, taking the time required to find appropriate shelter and housing.

MHC is working hard to ensure the best possible outcomes for each of the 21 remaining individuals utilizing this transitional housing program as well as the communities they are part of. MHC is collaborating with partners to place program participants into vocational support options, individualized plans for those who qualify, and community organizations to ensure no one is unsheltered when Safer closes its doors. As of Friday afternoon, safe, next step locations have been identified for many participants, and staff continues to work diligently to identify solutions for all individuals to ensure no one is unsheltered when Safer closes its doors.

MHC is grateful for the dedication of the Safer staff, the resilience of the program participants, and the collaboration of all government, nonprofit and community partners. MHC understands that the closure of Safer is deeply disappointing to all who’ve supported and benefited from this initiative. MHC remains committed to making the case for broader, systemic solutions so that programs like this one which provide an alternative to homelessness and incarceration can take root and thrive in the communities that need them.

DATE: Thursday, July 3, 2025

Today with a heavy heart, Mental Health Colorado, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, is unfortunately announcing the closure of the Safer program due to funding shortages.  As part of Mental Health Colorado’s “Care Not Cuffs” initiative, Safer works to disentangle mental health from the criminal justice system by offering stabilization, clinical support, life skills development, housing navigation, and community reintegration assistance. The Safer program, operating in Arapahoe County, provided safe, supportive shelter and comprehensive wraparound services for individuals experiencing homelessness, mental health conditions, and justice system involvement.

In a letter to stakeholders, Mental Health Colorado’s President and CEO Vincent Atchity stated:

“After careful analysis, many conversations, and ultimately a very hard decision, Mental Health Colorado is winding down its Safer operations in Arapahoe County. Sadly, over the last quarter, it has become increasingly evident that the ongoing funding picture, specifically, for Safer has become unreliable at best. It is unsustainable for our small non-profit advocacy organization to continue caring for our participants without reasonable certainty of sufficient, ongoing funding, and are thus making this decision now, while we still have a modest budget to transition participants safely.

“We’re unhappy to be joining the many other nonprofit and care providing organizations that are retracting at a time when our work is needed more than ever. As we continue our core advocacy work at Mental Health Colorado, we will be identifying ways to keep the needs of the population we’ve served at Safer in the eyes of policymakers and the public.”

The Safer program, launched in response to jail population downsizing in the early days of COVID-19 and primarily supported by ARPA relief dollars, was incredibly successful at helping participants find the supportive services they need to build healthy lives and disentangle themselves from the criminal justice system. As of August 2024, only three people out of 221 who have received services have acquired new criminal charges, and there have been zero overdoses among participants.

“Mental Health Colorado is incredibly grateful for the hard work and dedication of the entire Safer staff and team, the inspiration and courage of the residents and vulnerable populations who participated in the program, and the collaboration of all of our government, nonprofit, and other partners in this work,” Atchity continued. “I know we’ve changed lives, and we’re all very proud of what we’ve accomplished. We know that pretty much every community in America needs a program like Safer that can provide a healthful alternative to incarceration and close a painful gap in the continuum of care, but to make that happen communities will have to commit to shifting costs and reallocating budgets in order to sustain the efforts.”