11 results for tag: #funding
Larimer County’s mental health center lays off 75 people, blames rise in uninsured and Medicaid reform
August 8, 2024
By: Jennifer Brown
It’s hardly surprising that safety-net mental health centers are feeling the loss of Medicaid coverage for 600,000 Coloradans in the span of about a year, said Vincent Atchity, president and CEO of Mental Health Colorado.
“It’s an earthquake that takes a segment out of a highway,” he said. “It’s a crisis for sure.”
Atchity, who advocated for payment reform and more transparency in public spending on community mental health centers, said it’s likely there is “some seismic shifting that occurs when a system is flipping itself as much as this.”
But it’s unclear this early on in the ...
Motel Owners Sue Greenwood Village Over Ordinance That Limits Homeless Motel Stays
August 5, 2024
By: Bennito L Kelty
In March 2020, John Jackson, the Greenwood Village city manager, sent Bharucha a letter warning that she was violating the ordinance because her motel isn't a medical facility, according to the lawsuit. Jackson also called on then-Denver Mayor Michael Hancock to cancel the partnership with CCH, "and the partnership was canceled," the lawsuit notes.
A month later, Bharucha formed a new partnership with SAFER, an initiative supported by Mental Health Colorado, to offer 23 rooms at her motel for two years as a temporary shelter for people suffering from mental health problems or drug addiction.
Greenwood ...
Climate change is exacerbating Colorado’s mental health crisis. We need leaders who will tackle it head-on.
July 31, 2024
By: Vincent Atchity
Of course, a central part of the solution to eco-anxiety lies in desperately needed policy change. That means bolstering environmental protections at the federal, state and local level. The best treatment for eco-anxiety is collective action around climate and commitment from those in power to prioritize this issue before it’s too late.
We can’t wait, however, for policy changes to come about before helping Coloradans who experience eco-anxiety. We must acknowledge and validate these feelings among our friends and neighbors, and mental health providers must be prepared to help clients navigate these ...
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 ...
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
