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Iman Jodeh
As the Democratic Nominee for HD41, I am dedicated to not only increasing mental health awareness, but to increase resources to mental health providers and Colorado residence in need of assistance. It is not lost upon me the we must also incorporate mental health professionals in law enforcement to decrease the risk of unjust use of force. In conjunction with that, I also believe that we must increase the presence of mental health professionals in schools. I have a track record of supporting mental health bills in the Colorado State Legislature, and will vow to support ...
Lindsey Daugherty
Mental health is a healthcare issue, and we need to work to stop the stigmatization of it. Schools should have more counselors who begin talking with children about mental health from a young age. With suicide rates at an all time high, this is a top priority for me. I’ve also seen how badly addiction can destroy someone’s life at a very personal level. My brother has suffered with addiction issues and my family have learned firsthand that the criminal justice system unfortunately prioritizes punishment, and not treatment. Fortunately for my brother, he has been able ...
Karl Hanlon
Improving Colorado’s behavioral health care system is a big priority. I applaud efforts like those of the Behavioral Health Task Force that the legislature formed, as well as the legislation that has come out of the task force that is aimed at improving our system by increasing parity, ensuring accessibility, and lowering costs. Mental illness is not a crime, yet Coloradans who suffer from mental health crises, especially rural Coloradans, often still find themselves in jail cells for their illness. Moreover, in some counties on the Western Slope, local sheriff deputies ...
Rachel Zenzinger
One of the main priorities I have for mental health in my community is to increase mental health parity with physical health. I was very supportive of HB18-1357 on Behavioral Health Care Ombudsperson Parity Reports, which required compliance with mental health parity laws and helped to increase access to care. But this was just a start. We must do a better job of integrating mental health into the full continuum of health where it is not seen differently than physical health. Right now, mental health costs are significantly higher, there is a lack of insurance coverage, ...
David Ortiz
One of the most overlooked aspects of healthcare is mental healthcare. After surviving a catastrophic helicopter crash on deployment to Afghanistan, which left me paralyzed from the waist down, my most challenging days during rehab and recovery were not because of the physical injury but were caused by my mental health struggles. Having access to quality and affordable mental healthcare was critical to my recovery.
A focal point of my work in the community is mental health. If elected, I would, first, increase the number of counselors in our schools. Second, I would ...
Tim McCormack
It is far past time that we treat mental illness like a medical condition, which it is. We need to stop stigmatizing and criminalizing mental health issues. For far too long, we’ve been focused on punishing behavior rather than identifying causes and treating those in a sensible way.
One of my top priorities as the next District Attorney is to ensure that we have a robust diversion program, similar to the one that I set up and ran in another district. Rather than seeking prison sentences for non-violent felony cases, we took those who had been charged with those ...
Mark Bromley
I do support House District 34 Constituent needs for a fit state of mind and do believe in the help they can receive from qualified professionals based on empirical scientific qualifications. I believe from looking further into the website for Mental Health Colorado we are diametrically indifferent and not congruent. I discovered a devout page on your website that revealed a few partisan legislative efforts that do not address mental health and have been used to target Law Abiding people in good standings with their communities while exonerating those of a criminal drug ...
Tom Sullivan
Since my son Alex was murdered in the Aurora Theater massacre I have made a commitment to do what I can so that other families don’t experience what we have. A part of that is being vocal and upfront with how it has impacted us emotionally. I wear the pain of Alex’s murder every day and I share that publicly.
I believe that is an important part I can play in mental health awareness. I can talk about the pain and work with others on plans to work on solutions all while being in the public eye. That fact I believe will help others know that they too can work through ...
Ballot Information
What do your candidates have to say about mental health?
We asked them. Check out their answers here!**
The June 30th primary election is coming up in Colorado, and we want to make sure you have all of the information you need to VOTE.
June 22nd was the last day to vote by mail to ensure your ballot arrives at the polls in time. If you haven’t already mailed in your ballot, drop it off in person by 7 pm on June 30th! Contact your county clerk and recorder for drop-off and drop-box locations.
If you’re not registered to vote, it’s not ...
Perry Will
I support all aspects of mental health and especially the needs in rural Colorado, my voting record will support that fact. I have been a strong advocate for mental health awareness and needs. Very active in getting Telehealth needs met especially when it comes to behavioral health.
