Brain Health News
Colorado is pouring more money into schools for kids with behavioral health issues and disabilities. But is it helping?
CPR News Colorado is doubling the funding next year for schools that enroll students whose mental health or medical needs are too intense for regular schools to handle, calling for 12 new schools to open within the next three years. But even as the state attempts to...
CRITICAL MASS: Mental health problems among Colorado children becoming a crisis
By Carina Julig for the Colorado Sentinel Nearly two years ago, pediatricians and psychologists from Children’s Hospital Colorado convened a press conference to declare a “state of emergency” for pediatric mental health in Colorado. Post-pandemic, the state’s young...
Column: Reducing barriers to mental health treatment
By State Sen. Chris Kolker - Douglas County News-Press But there is always more to be done in correcting the healthcare gap between mental and physical illnesses. HB23-1130 is a bill currently gaining traction in our state legislature that is looking to reduce the...
Opinion: Sen. Rodriguez: Brain health deserves the same priority as all physical health
By State Sen. Robert Rodriguez for The Colorado Sun Step therapy, or “fail first,” is a common practice utilized by insurance companies to ensure a patient has first tried lower cost drugs before they can “step up” to receiving coverage for a more expensive one –...
DPS’s plan for additional mental health support unknown
By Tori Mason with CBS Colorado Denver Public Schools has been busy securing school resource officers (SROs) following recent violence at East High School. Many DPS families are looking for improvements in not only physical protection, but mental support as well. DPS...
Rep. Jenet: Renewed interest in student mental health bill after East HS shooting. Here’s what’s changed
By: Landon Haaf for ABC Denver 7 Colorado House Representative Dafna Michaelson Jenet told Denver7 Thursday that she has seen renewed interest in a student mental health bill, which is currently under consideration in the state legislature, since a shooting at East...
Michael Bennet’s massive mental health legislation seeks to finally create parity in insurance plans
The Colorado Sun - Jennifer Brown Sweeping federal legislation aimed at once and for all achieving parity between physical and mental health care likely would cost tens of billions of dollars and has little chance of passing in a divided Congress. Still, U.S. Sen....
Treat mental illness the same as physical injury
By Rep. Anthony Hartsook - Colorado Politics The acknowledgement and treatment for serious mental illness has come a long way. However, we still need significant improvement in our approach to treating serious mental illnesses (SMI) and other brain injuries. I am...
Rep. Michaelson Jenet: Public figures – like me – can help normalize mental health illness
By Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet - The Colorado Sun According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, nearly one in 25 adults in the U.S. lives with a serious mental illness – think conditions like bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia. Those people...
Long list of bills to ‘fix’ Colorado health care
By Paula Noonan - Colorado Politics Mental and behavioral health and drug care have several bills. Step therapy is a practice related to medical and mental health prescriptions when Medicaid or insurance companies require physicians to prescribe less expensive...
“Stop stigmatizing”: Colorado lawmaker stands tall after facing backlash for sharing mental illness
By Shaun Boyd - CBS Colorado A state lawmaker, who came under attack for opening up about her own struggle with mental illness, is fighting back. Democratic State Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, whose district includes Adams County, says it's past time to break down the...
Colorado bill seeks to limit step therapy in serious mental illness treatment
By Hannah Metzger - Colorado Politics When a doctor prescribes medication for a patient, insurance companies often require the patient to first try a series of alternative, less expensive drugs before they will cover the originally prescribed medication. Critics say...
Mental health — and care options — in Colorado remain ‘distressing’ after years in survival mode
By Debbie Kelley - The Colorado Springs Gazette Colorado no longer ranks as the worst state in the nation for the prevalence of mental illness and access to treatment for adults, a spot it held in the 2022 State of Mental Health in America report. The recently...
Opinion: Doctors, not insurance companies, should decide treatment for mental illness
By Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet - The Denver Post When someone acknowledges that their mental well-being is declining and that they need treatment, the expectation is that they meet with a provider and be placed on a treatment plan best tailored to their needs....
Partisan abide: Democrat-controlled Legislature to focus on gun law reform, health care, education
The Colorado Sentinel Health and mental health continue to be topics of interest for the Aurora delegation. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, who formerly represented House District 30 and was elected this fall to represent the redistricted House District 32, said she...
Boulder City Council approved behavioral health response team pilot program
By Annie Mehl - Boulder Daily Camera The Boulder City Council on Thursday night approved tacking a behavioral health response pilot program onto the city’s existing co-response program in an effort to help free up police officers’ time and allow trained clinicians to...
Colorado opens new beds for mental health care, but needs more
By Marc Sallinger - 9 News Colorado's severe lack of mental health beds creates a series of problems. One issue with the bed shortage is that people are waiting in jail for months rather than getting treatment to restore competency and stand trial. While one state...
Colorado’s mental health system ill-equipped to handle adopted children with severe trauma
By Jennifer Brown, Olivia Prentzel, and Shannon Najmabadi - The Colorado Sun Colorado’s child welfare system has stepped up efforts in recent years to either keep kids with their relatives or more quickly get them adopted, policies motivated by research that children...
Colorado’s veteran suicide rate remains higher than national average
By Evan Kruegel - FOX 31 Colorado In 2020, 154 Colorado veterans died by suicide, according to a new report released by Veterans Affairs this fall. That number translated to a suicide rate of 39.3, significantly higher than the national average of 31.7. UCHealth...
988 crisis line expanding access to mental health supports
988 is the new 3-digit number to call or text with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners which manages the call response program in Colorado wants to expand its mission to support anyone experiencing mental health distress. More than...