2019 POLICY AND ADVOCACY PRIORITIES
Make the Behavioral Health
System Accountable for
Colorado’s Kids
Colorado should be the best state in the nation for
children and youth to live. Yet in our state, suicide
is the leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24,
and an estimated one out of every six teens has a
diagnosable mental health condition.
A recent national report ranked Colorado in the bottom half of the country
for children’s behavioral health, based on prevalence of conditions and
access to treatment. The status quo is not working.
In order to do a better job of promoting kids’ healthy bodies and minds,
the legislature must act boldly to transform how our state’s behavioral
health system operates. Today in Colorado, responsibility and authority for
children’s behavioral healthcare is dispersed among multiple state agencies
and local governments. This lack of coordination, accountability and
flexibility can lead to missed early intervention opportunities, duplicated
services and more costly treatments in the long run.
CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL COLORADO
Advocating for Enhanced
Behavioral Health at the
Local Level
Children’s Colorado has been increasingly
involved in local advocacy efforts
to garner additional resources for
behavioral health services. We supported
Caring 4 Denver, a local ballot measure in
the City and County of Denver to fund $45
million a year in behavioral health and
substance use programming and services.
Voters overwhelmingly approved the
Caring 4 Denver initiative with 70 percent
of the vote. As implementation begins in
2019, we will push to prioritize children
and youth in the allocation of resources.
We will also work to boost local efforts in
the City of Aurora, where voters passed
a mill levy increase that generates new
funds to hire more behavioral health
professionals in Aurora Public Schools.
Fortunately, solutions are within reach. Other states have dramatically
improved their ability to address the behavioral health needs of children
by establishing a centralized cross-agency governing body that ensures
appropriate accountability, management and funding of the system.
Children’s Hospital Colorado will partner with stakeholders to urge the
legislature to create a “Children and Youth Behavioral Health Commission”
composed of child-serving state agency leaders and an advisory body
that includes families, community partners and behavioral health
providers. Beyond this, the state should adopt standardized screening
and assessments for children who may be at risk of a behavioral health
condition, to increase the likelihood that children who need services are
identified earlier.
Colorado should also ensure that behavioral health providers use evidence-
based practices for screening and diagnosis, and there is more that can be
done to facilitate workforce recruitment and development. Recognizing
that many of Children’s Colorado’s community partners are also working on
behavioral health policy advocacy, we anticipate supporting a whole slate
of bills this year that aim to secure better outcomes for Colorado children
and families.
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