(Thornton—Thursday, November 19, 2015) More than 100 guests braved the early morning snowfall to attend Community Reach Center’s annual Legislative Breakfast on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at Noah’s Event Venue in Westminster.
A video clip from a recent broadcast by HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver highlighted problems with our country’s mental health system and served as a catalyst for conversation with event guests about areas where they can advocate for improvement.
“Colorado has the 7th highest rate of suicide in the United States and ranks 34th in the nation for per capita spending on mental health services,” said CEO Rick Doucet. “Navigating through the dozen different agencies involved in housing benefits for clients needing housing support is just one example of the complex and sometimes fractured landscape that is our community mental health system.”
COO Tamara Player highlighted several important mental health services that Community Reach Center provides the community in order to fill gaps in accessibility – including Assertive Community Treatment, School-based Therapy and the Walk-in Crisis Center at the 84th Avenue Neighborhood Health Center. Assertive Community Treatment serves clients struggling with chronic homelessness, incarceration or hospitalizations due to the severity of their mental health symptoms, and focuses on getting them to their maximum level of independent living. The School-based Therapy program provides on-site confidential counseling services to hundreds of students and their families at more than 50 schools throughout Adams County. The Walk-in Crisis Center is part of the new Colorado Crisis Services – comprised of walk-in centers, crisis stabilization units, mobile crisis services and a statewide crisis hotline. Community Reach Center is part of Community Crisis Connection, a provider with Colorado Crisis Services serving the Front Range, metro, and foothills communities. From December, 2015 through June, 2015, Colorado Crisis Connection helped more than 8,500 clients.
The program also shared highlights of the next phase of the Accountable Care Collaborative – the core delivery system for Colorado Medicaid. According to Doucet, the main thrust of this phase is person-centered care, measurable outcomes, demonstrated value and accountability. He encouraged guests to look into the implications of moving from a capitated system to a fee-for-service model proposed in the next phase – and the potential negative implications for individuals in treatment for mental health disorders.
Among the attendees were State Senators Beth Martinez-Humenik and Mary Hodge, State Representatives JoAnn Windholz, Kevin Priola, and Diane Primavera, 17th Judicial Chief Judge Patrick Murphy, Sheriff Mike McIntosh, Adams County District Attorney Dave Young, Adams County school Superintendents Charlotte Ciancio and Chris Fiedler, and newly elected Westminster councilwomen Shannon Bird and Anita Seitz.
Community Reach Center ended the presentation by exploring ways elected officials and community leaders can advocate for impact. Attendees were encouraged to educate themselves about mental health issues by taking a Mental Health First Aid course and regularly talking about mental health and wellness with peers, colleagues, and leaders.
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Community Reach Center has worked diligently to preserve and promote a commitment to excellence, professionalism and integrity within our community health care system for nearly 60 years – currently serving more than 13,000 individuals of all ages throughout the northern Denver metro area. We are an integral component of the community with an unparalleled team of dedicated professionals committed to providing our clients with a system of quality care that will support them in real life. The Center offers you evidence-based behavioral health services for all ages, at five outpatient offices and in public schools, community colleges, emergency rooms, physician offices and detention centers.