Colorado lawmakers consider grants for mental health services in prisons – The Journal

Committee considers other programs to keep youth out of prison and provide supportive housing for people deemed incompetent

A temporary committee of the Colorado State Legislature is currently reviewing a grant program to help local jails provide certain behavioral health services to their inmates at no cost.

The program is part of a bill being considered by a committee that seeks to improve the treatment of people with mental disorders in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. At a meeting Wednesday, staff from the Office of Legislative Legal Services explained to committee members what the bills currently look like, but no formal action will be taken until the committee's next meeting.

Conrad Imel, an attorney with the firm, said the bill would create a grant program that prisons can apply for to train their staff in certain free behavioral health services that do not require a license or certification to provide. Grants could also be used to fund those services, allowing prison inmates to receive them for free.

Another grant program the committee is considering would fund efforts by nonprofits and tribal organizations to help youth avoid the criminal justice system, said Anna Petrini, also an attorney for OLLS. The three-year grant program would provide $3.3 million each year from the state's general fund.

The bill also imposes requirements on the state's juvenile justice system regarding rehabilitative treatment and life skills programs, and includes provisions for housing situations and fair treatment. It also requires a clinician to evaluate the youth and develop a treatment plan, which is then implemented by a client manager to track the youth's progress in the system, Petrini said.

From January 2026, the Youth Act would require an annual report from the YOS that includes the number of young people in the system, who has completed the program and who has failed.

Other bills under consideration relate to jurisdiction, crisis response programs and “presumption of innocence due to insanity” provisions.

competence

Imel outlined a bill that would allow the Colorado Department of Human Services to temporarily continue care for patients receiving inpatient treatment if their case was dismissed due to incompetence. Currently, patients receiving outpatient treatment can continue to receive care even after their case is dismissed, Imel said, so the bill would extend that right to patients receiving inpatient treatment.

The bill would also authorize the department to provide assisted living for individuals whose cases were dismissed due to incompetence. A proposed grant program would use Proposition 123 funds for organizations that provide assisted living for individuals who have been involved in the criminal or juvenile justice system.

In 2022, Colorado voters approved Proposition 123, which allocates an additional $300 million annually to the state's affordable housing efforts. It protects the additional revenue by exempting the funds from the annual limits of the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, the 1992 constitutional amendment that limits Colorado's tax and spending levels.

The bill also specifies that the process for determining sanity in cases involving juveniles will apply even if the case is filed or transferred to adult court, Imel said. If a court finds that a juvenile's sanity cannot be restored, in certain cases they will be given a treatment plan by the court.

Crisis response

Another bill would require the Department of Public Safety and the Behavioral Health Administration to establish a special interest group tasked with identifying alternative programs used across the state to respond to mental health crises. DPS would then compile the list of resources and make it publicly available so local governments that may not have a program can see what options are being used across the state.

It also requires cooperation between the relevant state ministries to provide the state parliament with information on where funding bottlenecks and gaps exist in the state's overall crisis response system and what funding options are available.

Rep. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat who serves as vice chair of the committee, said she wants to see clear language in the bill requiring that a person who is in emergency housing for 72 hours, is being evaluated and needs extended, short-term placement must be directly connected to an appropriate facility to initiate that placement. Shelby Ross, also an attorney for the OLLS, said her office will work with the BHA to determine the correct language based on other parts of the law.

The bill would also require the BHA to provide a report on why a person detained for 72 hours is being released, in addition to other information already required in a report.

Not guilty by reason of insanity

Ross said the bill's authors updated much of the language in the Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Act to include current terminology because it contains outdated language. Additional changes would update requirements for where inquests can take place and how they are recorded.

The committee will vote on the bills at its next meeting, scheduled for September 30. Bill sponsors will also be named at that meeting. Bills approved by the interim committee would be introduced during the 2025 legislative session.

Other committee members include Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Democrat from Commerce City, who chairs the committee; Rep. Mary Bradfield, a Republican from Colorado Springs; Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Democrat from Littleton; Rep. Regina English, a Democrat from Colorado Springs; and Sen. Rod Pelton, a Republican from Cheyenne Wells.

For more articles from Colorado Newsline, visit www.coloradonewsline.com..

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