Reform of Colorado courts’ competency system on chopping block at statehouse, supporters say

April 19, 2024 By: Shelly Bradbury Criminal prosecutions are paused while defendants go through treatment designed to restore them to competency. If a person is restored, the prosecution can proceed; if a person can’t recover, the criminal charges must be dismissed. “Right now the highest cost of what is happening around competency is paid in human suffering,” said Lauren Snyder, vice president of government affairs at Mental Health Colorado. “That to me should be a priority for our state in making sure we are not letting people languish in jail who are there just because they have a mental health condition.” The state has poured ...

Tennessee should not fall for tough-on-crime rhetoric, but rather embrace bail reform

April 18, 2024 By: Vincent Atchity Welcome back to bail reform, Tennessee – sort of. Let’s hope your experiences are less fraught than those of some other states, although your initial return to the topic raises some concerns about the eagerness some have to put people who are innocent until proven guilty behind bars. It is still desirable to minimize the use of bail, because bail is a relic of colonial times that has no place in a society that seeks justice for all. Bail, for those unclear on what it is, is a deposit that someone who’s been arrested can pay to avoid waiting in jail for their charges to be resolved. People who can afford ...

“I don’t think she was a lost cause”: How one Colorado overdose victim fell through the cracks

April 14, 2024 By: Meg Wingerter People who have both a mental illness and a substance-use disorder often struggle to get treatment that addresses all their needs, because most providers still primarily focus on one or the other, said Vincent Atchity, president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado. Mental health facilities often won’t admit people in active addiction, he said. The Denver area needs more “housing first” options, which get people off the street even if they aren’t ready to stop using drugs immediately, said Atchity, of Mental Health Colorado. Offering wraparound services where people live increases the odds they’ll agree ...

Colorado legislators push obesity prevention bill, governor’s approval is uncertain

April 12, 2024 By: Marissa Ventrelli Erin Harrop of Mental Health Colorado echoed Chastain's concerns with the pharmaceutical industry profiting from weight loss medications whose long-term effects have not yet been fully studied. She said the longest trial of GLP-1 medications on obese individuals lasted only two years. "Like the opioid epidemic, the pharmaceutical industry stands to make huge profits before the long-term studies are even completed as desperate patients and well-meaning providers seek solutions," she said. Read the full article in Colorado Politics

Colorado legislators set aside $7.2 million to fund longer psychiatric hospital stays

March 29, 2024 By: Seth Klamman Once the money’s appropriated, a waiver expanding hospital stays would need to be approved by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. But other states have already taken similar steps, meaning approval is likely. Much of the money set aside in the state’s budget — $5 million — is federal. “By prioritizing funding for these Coloradans to be able to get the care they need rather than be prematurely discharged, we are saving state resources in the long run and creating healthier communities,” Vincent Atchity, the president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado, said in a statement. “Pol...

Coloradans with Medicaid and serious mental illness could soon receive better care at certain facilities

March 18, 2024 By: Tatiana Flowers The IMD policy was passed during the deinstitutionalization movement and the goal was to get people out of asylums and back into their communities while also increasing availability of publicly funded, community-based mental health services. “The thought was, states would be less likely to institutionalize people with serious mental health conditions, if the federal government wouldn’t pay for long lengths of stay and would instead pay for services in the community, which was wonderful,” said Lauren Snyder, vice president of government affairs for Mental Health Colorado, which is part of a coalition ...

Fix archaic medical policy failing Coloradans with mental health needs | OPINION

February 20, 2024 By: Vincent Atchity Many are aware Colorado is in a dire crisis of mental health, substance use and homelessness. We see every day too many of our friends, family members and neighbors are experiencing difficulties. We see we don’t have the proper supports and safeguards in place to stop people from experiencing preventable worst outcomes. What most are unaware of, however, is how outdated and seemingly benign policies perpetuate this vicious cycle in which so many Coloradans are trapped. We’re constantly seeing tragic stories play out in our communities. A person falls on hard times, experiences a mental health or substance ...

Decades-old rule pushes mentally ill Coloradans out of hospitals too soon. Legislators may finally change it.

December 11, 2023 By: Seth Klammann Barbara Vassis keeps a spreadsheet to track her daughter’s years-long journey through Colorado’s patchwork mental health system. The sheet goes back 11 years, a third of Erin’s life. There are holes in the narrative: Her daughter is schizophrenic bipolar, Vassis said, and she’s moved around different parts of the country. Still, even incomplete, Vassis’ growing tracker provides a glimpse at the revolving doors that Erin and hundreds of other Coloradans are stuck in every year. From April 2021 to April 2022, for instance, Erin spent 106 days bouncing between emergency rooms, detox facilities, ...

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