| Summary |
Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning the Treatment
of Persons with Behavioral Health Disorders in the Criminal and
Juvenile Justice Systems. No later than December 31, 2025, the bill
requires the department of public safety (DPS), in collaboration with the
behavioral health administration (BHA), to convene a stakeholder group
to identify existing resources and model programs that communities
throughout Colorado utilize when responding to behavioral health crises,
including, but not limited to, co-responder programs, alternative response
programs, and mobile crisis response programs. The bill requires DPS to
compile a list of the existing resources and model programs and make the
resources and information about the model programs publicly available
on DPS's website.
The bill requires the department of health care policy and
financing (HCPF), the department of public health and environment, and
the BHA to provide information to the general assembly on or before
January 1, 2027, regarding the reimbursement shortages and gaps within
the continuum of care for the behavioral health crisis response system and
the reimbursement and funding options at the state and federal level that
are available to address the shortages and gaps, including funding for
treatment in place.
Upon receiving the necessary federal authorization, the bill
requires HCPF to reimburse an institute of mental health disease for
providing inpatient mental health care and treatment to a member for up
to 60 days, as long as the average length of stay does not exceed 30 days
per calendar year.
Current law requires each person detained for an emergency
mental health hold to receive an evaluation as soon as possible after the
person is presented to a facility, and the evaluation may, but is not
required to, include an assessment to determine if the person continues to
meet the criteria for an emergency mental health hold and requires further
mental health care in a facility designated by the commissioner. The bill
requires the evaluation to include the assessment determination.
The bill requires a facility to only discharge a person placed on an
emergency mental health hold if the person no longer meets the criteria
for an emergency mental health hold; except that a facility may transfer
the person to another facility if the facility is unable to provide the
appropriate medical care to the person.
The bill requires the BHA to include in its annual report to the
general assembly the reason for discharging each person who is placed on
an emergency mental health hold.
No later than December 31, 2025, the bill requires each behavioral
health entity, facility, and hospital to provide information to the BHA
about the behavioral health entity's, facility's, or hospital's medical and
behavioral health-care capabilities.
Beginning October 1, 2025, and continuing annually until October
1, 2030, the bill requires the BHA, in coordination with HCPF and the
health information organization network, to prepare and submit a report
to the general assembly on behavioral health data interoperability.
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