Mental Health Colorado seeking to change course on care in Colorado
Daily CameraAug 25, 2018
Spoiler alert: It's not.
"We are not there yet," Romanoff said. "We are 43rd."
Romanoff, who is a former speaker of the house for the state Legislature, was at
"We estimate that about a million people in the state every year experience a mental health or substance abuse issue," Romanoff said. "Only about half of them get the care they require."
Reasons for that shortfall in care vary and can include a lack of access and providers, no insurance coverage or the belief that one's insurance doesn't cover mental health care, he said. Romanoff added that reasons change in different regions of the state. In rural areas, a person might be afraid of seeking help because of a fear damaging one's reputation in a town where everyone knows your name.
The state has a high suicide rate, Romanoff said, and although about two-thirds of annual gun deaths in
Colorado Ceasefire states that where there are higher levels of gun ownership, there are more suicides and accidental gun deaths.
Mental Health Colorado supported a Red Flag law that failed to pass the state
The court would then have held a second hearing within a week on whether to weigh evidence that would have barred the person from having or receiving a firearm for six months -- and potentially longer.
Mental Health Colorado has a wide ranging agenda to improve mental health care in the state. That includes an effort for more such care in schools and normalizing mental illness so it is treated more like a separated shoulder than something to be ashamed of (the same for substance abuse).
"I don't want to suggest that if we do everything on our agenda that we will be able to end gun violence in America," Romanoff said. "But if you have 1,100 suicides in
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