Chaos at the top of Colorado’s mental health crisis | PODIUM | Opinion

Michael Fields

Behind closed doors, Colorado is silently grappling with a mounting mental health crisis. The burdens of anxiety, depression and other disorders are still far too high, making an incredible impact on our families, our friends and our coworkers.

The COVID-19 pandemic isn’t responsible for this crisis, it merely exacerbated it, further revealing the deficiencies within our state government’s ability to address it. That’s why, in 2022, our state moved forward with creating the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA), a statewide agency with the ability to coordinate amongst other state agencies, local governments and nonprofits to better address the growing crisis.

As of May of this year, nearly a quarter of all employees with Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration have resigned according to recent Gazette reporting, despite recent boosts in state spending toward the agency and mental health efforts statewide. The now-departed head of the agency shared how she felt unsupported and undermined by other members of Gov. Jared Polis’s administration, in part due to her newly-created agency taking some responsibilities and power from existing agencies. “I faced a lack of support at many levels,” she said.

This dysfunction at the top isn’t without consequence. A recent report found that Colorado’s adult mental health services ranks near the bottom of all states and the District of Columbia: 45th out of 51. Another report, by Mental Health America, ranked Colorado’s adult mental health 51st — dead last.

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Depression knows no political party. It is understandable that a new state agency would suffer growing pains as it comes to fruition. But, like any other health crisis, the dysfunction at the top must be addressed swiftly to avoid our state losing any more ground to this silent killer.

Colorado’s suicide rate is one of the worst in the nation, though those rankings have remained relatively stagnant for the last decade. Digging deeper into the data, we see many of these individuals are attempting to self-medicate. According to 2021 data (the latest year available for these numbers), 39.6% of those suicides showed alcohol present during the toxicology screening. Another 23.3% had marijuana in their system, and 15.8% had an opiate. Amphetamines were present at 14.7%.

Regarding homelessness, we see of the approximately 10,397 homeless individuals in the state, more than a third are suffering from mental illness, and more than a quarter are struggling with substance abuse, according to the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.

Thankfully, where the state falls short, local governments and nonprofits are stepping up.

Douglas County is being commended for their Mental Health Initiative, an effort that includes a Community Response Team, pairing mental health professionals with law enforcement on crisis calls that come in through 911 dispatch. It’ll also soon go toward a 24/7 walk-in crisis clinic.

El Paso County recognized a dangerous upward trend in youth suicides and convened the Youth Suicide Prevention Workgroup in 2014. There were 14 youth suicides countywide in 2015, but just four in 2021 and 2022. That’s a significant decrease in a county that has seen an additional 50,000 individuals move into their boundaries in the same span of time.

UCHealth has moved to expand its virtual behavioral health outpatient program, which has seen promising early results with 77% of enrolled patients reporting a decrease in depressive symptoms.

Colorado needs to see this level of dedication and creativity statewide. The stakes are too high to continue putting an issue of such consequence on the back burner. Our organization, Advance Colorado, plans to continue educating folks about the mental health crisis, and furthermore, bring forth market-based, innovative solutions to tackling the issue. Cities, counties and nonprofits across the state and nation are leading the way with significant investments into pilot programs that show promise. It’s time we all start paying attention.

Michael Fields is the president of Advance Colorado Institute.

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