July 2008
This month's updates come from:
- Colorado LINKS for Mental Health
- Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council
- Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Child Welfare
- Colorado System of Care Collaborative
- Project BLOOM
- State Youth Council
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Colorado LINKS for Mental Health
- Colorado LINKS for Mental Health has developed a draft white paper on budget, funding, and finance reform in partnership with cross-agency leaders. The Budget, Funding, and Finance workgroup will continue to refine the paper, adding concrete examples tied to specific funding streams. For more information, please contact Jose Esquibel at J.Esquibel@state.co.us.
- Colorado LINKS for Mental Health has its first signed MOU between the initiative and a cross-agency planning group, the Prevention Leadership Council! The MOU commits the two groups to working together on family and youth involvement in policymaking; budget, funding, and finance reform; and integration of efforts. LINKS will continue to pursue MOUs with the remaining groups in the Guidebook to Interagency Planning Efforts Addressing Kids' Behavioral Health. For more information or to have your cross-system planning group partner with LINKS and sign an MOU, please contact José Esquibel at J.Esquibel@state.co.us. To see the LINKS Guidebook, please go to: http://www.csi-policy.org/links/documents/LINKSGuidebookApril08Version_000.pdf.
- The first Integration of Behavioral Health Efforts Leadership Team will meet on September 5th, 2008 from Noon to 2:00pm at The Tennyson Center for Children (2950 Tennyson Center). The group will develop an action plan for designing and implementing the clearinghouse of systems-level resources. Please RSVP to Rebecca@csi-policy.org.
For more information, please contact Anne-Marie Braga at anne-marie.braga@state.co.us
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Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council
- This month's CBHC newsletter announces the results of a report commissioned in 2006 by the Metro Area County Commissioners about the effect of untreated mental illness on Colorado's Corrections System. According to the report, untreated mental illness is costing Colorado's Corrections system millions each year. More community based services are recommended to save public resources. The report states that it is more cost-effective for all stakeholders to intervene with these individuals in a community mental health setting before they encounter the law enforcement system. The receive the entire newsletter, please contact the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council at 303-832-7594.
For more information, please contact George DelGrosso at gdelgrosso@cbhc.org
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Colorado Department of Human Services, Division of Child Welfare
- The Division of Child Welfare and the Division of Behavioral Health are collaborating with family advocates on House Bill 08-1391's pilot program to integrate child welfare and behavioral health. The program's components are mental health research, screening, evaluation, and mental health services; and these will be implemented in 3 pilot sites. The target population is 4-10 year olds with an open case of substantiated abuse or neglect, and the program will provide Mental Health services to them and their siblings. The first RFP, for the pilot program contractor, was published on the State bidders list on June 27th; an RFA for counties to be a pilot site and a second RFP for the evaluator are slated to be published on August 1st. For more information about the RFPs, please contact Kathy O'Connor, 303-987-4604, Kathy.oconner@state.co.us. For more information about the RFA, please contact Bob Coulson, 303-866-4706, Bob.coulson@state.co.us
For more information, please contact Bob Coulson at Bob.Coulson@state.co.us
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Colorado System of Care Collaborative
- Liza Fox and Leslie Herod from the Governor Ritter's Office of Policy and Initiatives will be special guests from 9:30-10:30 am at the Colorado System of Care Collaborative meeting on Friday, August 1st at The Tennyson Center for Children (2950 Tennyson Street). The meeting begins at 9am with light refreshments, and ends at 11:30am.
For more information, please contact Margie Grimsley at m_grimsley@msn.com
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Project BLOOM
- Project BLOOM's third Linking and Aligning Forum will be on Thursday, July 31 from 8:30am-1:00pm. The purpose is to develop a care coordination plan/process for the integration of physical and behavioral health. The forum will host a panel presentation and discussion focusing on care coordination from the provider's perspective, followed by a working meeting to continue drafting the care coordination plan/process. The forum will be held at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus. Breakfast refreshments and a light lunch will be provided. To register for this event (Project BLOOM - Linking and Aligning Forum #3), please go to: http://www.jfkpartners.org/Workshops.asp
For more information, please contact Jean Cimino at 303-733-4631 (Tuesdays and Thursdays ONLY please) or JeanCimino@gmail.com anytime.
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State Youth Council
- The State Youth Council and Colorado WIN Partners/UCD will be hosting 2 webinars: July 30, 12 pm – 1 pm, on Partnerships and Collaborations; and August 13, 12 pm – 1 pm, on Demography Data and Tools Available to State and Local Entities. The webinars will be done via Adobe Connect, and will also be archived on e-colorado.
For more information, please contact Steve Wright at Steve.Wright@state.co.us or 303-318-8237
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To be included in next month's LINKING YOU, please send us your planning or organization group's name, contact info, up to three bullets of one sentence each, and where possible, a link to more information.
Brought to you by the Colorado LINKS for Mental Health Initiative. For more information about the Initiative, please contact Anne-Marie Braga at anne-marie.braga@state.co.us.
