Blog
STATE OF MENTAL HEALTH FORUM
April 1, 2018
As the race for Colorado governor heats up it's important to know where the candidates are on mental health. Watch our State of Mental Health Forum recap to see where they stand.
Unanimous
March 30, 2018
Put six Republicans and three Democrats on the same stage, and you might not expect them to agree on anything. When it comes to improving mental health care, however, you can find common ground.
Nine candidates shared a stage last week at our first-ever gubernatorial forum. If you were among the 400 people who joined us, thank you!
Even if you couldn’t make it, you can watch the forum (thanks to Children’s Hospital Colorado and Costello Productions) here. If you don’t have an hour, check out this four-minute recap.
The candidates fielded ...
Dollars and sense
April 16, 2018
Talk is cheap. And when it comes to mental health care, so is Washington.
The President has devoted a lot of words to mental health in recent weeks—without the dollars to match. In fact, the administration’s new budget plan would make it more difficult for Americans to get care.
Compared to current projections, the administration’s plan calls for deep cuts to Medicaid and Medicare; school safety initiatives; and treatment for mental health and substance use disorders. The plan would also eliminate federal funding for a program of screening, ...
Dear Governor
March 7, 2018
Last night’s Democratic and Republican caucuses brought together thousands of Coloradans—roughly the same number running for governor! If you didn’t get to meet one of the candidates, here’s your chance…
Join us on March 23 for our first-ever gubernatorial forum. We’re inviting the contenders for Colorado’s top job to tell us how they would improve care for people with mental health and substance use disorders.
Now we’re inviting you not only to attend the forum but also to submit questions. Share your suggestions at deargovernor@me...
Parkland
February 17, 2018
I spent a lot of time this week trying to write about the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. I kept coming up short, and last night I finally realized why.
Words are too weak.
Words can’t capture our grief, our outrage, our sense of horror. They can’t bring a loved one back to life. And they can’t make us safer; only action can do that.
There are plenty of actions we could take to reduce the risk of gun violence. Yet Washington has resisted even common-sense reforms.
Now many politicians—some well-meaning, others eager for a ...
No joke
February 9, 2018
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:
Two Democrats and two Republicans walk into a room. A brawl doesn’t break out.
There’s no punchline here—just a welcome display of bipartisanship. That’s the story behind House Bill 1094, one of our top priorities in this year’s legislative session.
The bill, sponsored by Reps. Leslie Herod (D-Denver) and Cole Wist (R-Centennial) and Sens. Beth Martinez Humenik (R-Thornton) and Dominick Moreno (D-Commerce City), would reauthorize the Child Mental Health Treatment Act, which is due to expire ...
On the menu
February 2, 2018
Put 100 people in a gold-domed building. Add a mix of ideologies, a dash of political intrigue, and $30 billion. Simmer for 120 days.
That’s a recipe for Colorado’s 71st General Assembly, whose second regular session is now underway.
What’s cooking? We invite you to find out: join Mental Health Colorado on Tuesday, Feb. 6 for a live webinar.
Even if you can’t make it then, you can track—and shape—the legislature’s decisions by visiting our new advocacy page. Follow key bills, contact state lawmakers, and learn more about mental ...
A question
January 26, 2018
Why didn’t you get the mental health care you needed?
The Colorado Health Institute posed that question in a recent statewide survey. The answer from an estimated 90,000 Coloradans: “I was worried about what would happen if someone found out.”
That’s a large and troubling number—and it doesn’t seem to be going down. A similar share of the population cited the same concern five years ago.
The question for all of us: What can we do about it?
First, we can make good on the laws we’ve passed. The law bans discrimination on the ...
A little more spark
January 19, 2018
“A little less conversation, a little more action, please.”
Congress could take a lesson from Elvis Presley. As the federal government teeters on the edge of a shutdown, “all this aggravation ain’t satisfactioning me.”
That’s good advice for anyone who wants to make a difference. At Mental Health Colorado, we measure our success not by the number of meetings we hold or speeches we give, but by the number of Coloradans who get the mental health care they need.
By that measure, we have a lot of work to do. Half a million Coloradans ...
Join the Wave
The governor and the speaker of the House called it an epidemic. The president of the Senate said it “could be the greatest health crisis our nation has faced thus far in the 21st century.”
As the legislature opened for business this week, Democrats and Republicans alike sounded the alarm over opioids. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is proposing a package of remedies.
Now it’s up to their colleagues—and all of us—to do something about it.
We were glad to hear legislative leaders pledge support for prevention and treatment. But if we’re serious about ...
