Thoughts on the Mental health Task force Recommendations--
Comments due to the State Monday December 12, 2016

From One Task Force Member:

The recommendations themselves are all pretty good and I agreed to all of them. I have been really encouraged by the conversation in the room - we've seen some people really come around in terms of their understanding and recognizing the system is broken.

I'm wondering what is going to actually happen after this task force. And the one issue that is still really huge is the hospitals and the designation issue. They keep using EMTALA [Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act] as the reason they can't accept patients in rural hospitals with psych crisis.

So while we are saying "no more jails" - everyone is pretty clear that there aren't alternatives so that practice is not going to end right away. 
 
My bigger concerns are probably things we can't do much about:
 
1) Follow-through (how are these recommendations going to be acted upon and upheld and by whom?)

2) Funding = many of these recommendations are going to require funding and they said maybe $4 million additional in the budget ​for next year but that's not nearly enough to do what is needed.

3) The crisis system and specifically "mobile crisis" in the rural areas is really terrible and it doesn't seem like there's anyone overseeing it or doing anything to change it. And I put "mobile crisis" in quotes b/c its been explained to us that all that is - is a clinician who drives around in her own car and calls the Sheriff's Dept to accompany her to crisis calls - and she is genuinely doing everything she can but that is the rural "mobile crisis".

4) No accountability for MHCs/BHOs [Mental Health Centers/Behavioral Health Organizations] - and one Ombudsman is not going to be able to address all of the issues. 
 
I'm trying not to be negative :) but I am afraid like every other task force this issue will fade into the background. 


Orchid's Positions & Comments on the Mental Health Task Force Recommendations -- No Objections to Any of the Recommendations; Brief Comments
CDHS
Why the Mental Health Hold Task Force was created

Gov. John Hickenlooper directed the Colorado Department of Human Services to create a task force to examine issues of concern around mental health holds in Colorado.

The request was included in the letter the governor issued in June when he vetoed Senate Bill 16-169, which addressed mental health hold practices.

In vetoing the bill, the governor issued a statement that said, in part:

“We agree that appropriate mental health facilities are not always readily available to treat persons having a mental health crisis. While well-intentioned, we are concerned that SB 16-169 does not provide adequate due process for individuals.”

​CDHS creates task force and articulates missionIn June, CDHS Executive Director Reggie Bicha called for applicants to serve on the task force, and articulated a list of issues for the task force to address. 

Specifically the Mental Health Hold Task Force was asked to meet a Jan. 1, 2017 deadline imposed by the governor to make statutory, policy, and administrative recommendations to:
  • Ensure proper mental health treatment for individuals in crisis, while satisfying individual's rights under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) and due process standards. This should include exploring models used in other states;
  • End the practice of confining in jail persons with mental illness who have committed no crime;
  • Where appropriate, streamline and align regulatory oversight of the mental health hold process while ensuring necessary patient care requirements and protecting patient rights; 
  • Understand the need for, and overcome barriers to, providing inpatient psychiatric care to persons in mental health crisis;
  • Maximize existing state resources, including examining potential enhancements that can be made to the current crisis services and transportation systems;
  • Develop data tracking and provider communication systems to better understand the scope of the mental health hold problem in Colorado.

   https://sites.google.com/a/state.co.us/cdhs-pso-bc/ccibvi/mental-health-hold-task-force​