15 results for tag: #care

Bridges of Colorado: Formerly homeless, jailed vet headed home with new coping skills

July 21, 2024 By: Mary Shinn Mental Health Colorado President and CEO Vincent Atchity said his organization supported the new program that will help people leave the justice system and focus on their mental well-being. He expects it will help those facing charges such as trespassing, public nuisance and other lower-level crimes, and free up the court system for those who have committed more egregious crimes. “There's a significant chunk of the population with the lower charges, that can just be steered away from the pursuit of prosecution,” he said. Ultimately, Mental Health Colorado would like to see far more mental health ...

Colorado leaders launch website this week to help improve the state’s mental health system

July 3, 2024 By: Tatiana Flowers The Behavioral Health Administration will host public conversations in the coming months to help people learn to use the tool. Those dates will be published on the Behavioral Health Administration’s calendar soon. “It’s important for a public system to have this kind of visibility to show how it’s improving access for people,” Atchity said. “And for our purposes, as advocates, it’s handy — if we can trust this to be thorough and comprehensive.” Mental Health Colorado leaders recently released Know Your Rights information for Coloradans who need mental health and substance use services....

Report: Colorado suicide, mental health crisis lifeline system needs more work

July 1, 2024 By: Eric Galatas Two years after the National 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was introduced, a new report by the group Inseparable says Colorado and other states have work to do in order to fully staff call centers and connect people with the care they need when they need it most. Colorado is answering just 75 percent of 988 calls, and lacks critical resources including care providers, beds and other facilities. Vincent Atchity - CEO of Mental Health Colorado - said like many other states, Colorado is experiencing a workforce shortage. "Those people don't grow on trees," said Atchity. "So it is difficult to create a system ...

New commission creates statewide standards for Colorado jails

June 23, 2024 By: Zachary Dupont The commission was made up of people with varied backgrounds, including members of law enforcement, victims' rights advocates and mental health specialists. Vincent Atchity, the president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado, who served on the commission, discussed how the variety of backgrounds was greatly beneficial. “It's an unusual space to be in where you've got, on the one hand, the health advocates, and on the other hand the jail-commander types,” Atchity said. “I think that there was all kinds of good ground for collaborative formulation of standards that made sense to people.” Among some of ...

This Pride Month, Recognize the Importance of Supporting LGBTQ Mental Health

June 21, 2024 By: Steven Haden Pride is a time for us to celebrate Colorado’s vibrant LGBTQ+ population, empower each other, and lean into the joy that this month can bring. But at the same time, we must acknowledge the anti-LGBTQ+ hate and violence that seeks to divide us and instill fear and despair in our communities, as well as the ongoing mental health struggles that many LGBTQ+ individuals face. As the founder of Envision:You, an organization that seeks to close the gaps in health outcomes for LGBTQ+ Coloradans, I am intimately aware of the barriers that make it difficult for these individuals to lead happy, healthy lives. LGBTQ+ ...

Colorado mandates new rules for eating disorder clinics in response to patient complaints

June 10, 2024 By: Seth Klamann Colorado’s eating disorder treatment industry will soon face tighter regulations of providers’ practices under a new state law spurred in part by former patients and providers’ accounts of punitive environments and treatment practices. The law, passed by lawmakers this spring as Senate Bill 117, charges the state Behavioral Health Administration with issuing new rules for eating disorder treatment clinics. Those must include requirements for private and clothed medical exams, outside the view of other patients; specific accommodations for transgender and nonbinary patients; guidance for the use of ...

Legislation aims to enhance eating disorder treatment standards statewide

May 29, 2024 By: The Sopris Sun Over the last two years, EDF and Mental Health Colorado (MHC), a Denver-based mental health advocacy nonprofit organization, have worked together to advocate for more comprehensive and humane legislation for those affected by eating disorders. Vincent Atchity, MHC president and CEO, said a stripped-down version of a similar bill (SB 23-176) passed in 2023. It prohibits insurance companies and treatment facilities from using a person’s BMI, or body mass index, to determine whether to cover eating disorder treatment and prohibits the sale of some diet pills to minors. However, treatment plan regulation ...

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 ...