Colorado lawmakers approve millions of dollars to address youth mental health crisis

On the last day of the legislative session, state lawmakers approved one of the biggest investments in child welfare in years. The legislation comes as hundreds of kids with severe behavioral health needs are forced to seek care out of state because Colorado doesn't have enough residential treatment.

The lack of treatment is primarily due to a lack of providers. The bill will help recruit and retain more providers and give hope to families who feel their kids have been failed by the state.

Stephen Johnson's 16-year-old grandson has been in and out of mental health facilities for the last year and a half.

"In 72 hours they're ready to kick him out," he said. 

Johnson is among those who testified about the lack of treatment before an interim legislative committee last summer. 

Lawmakers also heard from hundreds of child welfare leaders from across the state who said they had never seen so many kids with such severe behavioral health needs. 

They said many kids were leaving the state for care. Others, they said, were sleeping in county offices, hotels, hospitals, and detention centers due to a severe shortage of residential treatment options.

State Rep. Mary Young heard the cry for help and responded with a bill that allocates $26 million to improve payment and training for providers.

"So many of the stories that we heard were about children in youth who had been to a number of placements and they weren't successful and I think a lot of that goes back to inadequate training," she said. 

It's estimated that the bill will help fund staff for more than 30 additional treatment beds.

Becky Miller Updike, executive director of the Colorado Association of Child and Family Agencies, says it won't eliminate waitlists for residential treatment, but it should help shorten them.

"This is a huge step in the right direction," she said. 

Updike says many providers have been fundraising to keep their doors open. An actuarial analysis found Colorado should be paying providers $700 per kid per day. Instead, it pays $320. Complex cases can cost $1,600 per kid per day.

"It's like intensive care if you want to compare that to, you know, intensive care in a hospital getting paid urgent care rates," she said. "This is some relief. This is going to allow providers to pay qualified staff to open some more compacity in the state to serve kids who are in need."

Stephen Johnston's grandson is finally in a residential treatment facility after nine stays at short-term care facilities.

He says there's more lawmakers can and should do.

"They need to maybe visit these places and see what's really going on," he said.