A grant program to help local jails provide for free certain behavioral health services to people in custody is under consideration by an interim committee of the Colorado Legislature.
The program is part of one bill being considered by a committee looking to improve how the state treats people with behavioral health disorders in the criminal and juvenile justice systems. In 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 office, said the bill would create a grant program jails can apply for to train their staff on certain complimentary behavioral health services that don’t require a license or certification to administer. Grants could also be used to pay for those services so people in custody at the jail could receive them at no cost.
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 with the OLLS. The three-year grant program would allocate $3.3 million from the state general fund each year.
The bill also adds requirements to the state’s Youthful Offender System for rehabilitative treatment and life skills programming, and it adds language related to housing arrangements and equitable treatment. It also requires a clinician to evaluate youth and develop a treatment plan, which will then be executed by a client manager to track the youth’s progress in the system, Petrini said.
Starting in January 2026, the youth bill 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 competency, crisis response programs, and “not guilty by reason of insanity” provisions.
Imel explained a bill that would allow the Colorado Department of Human Services to temporarily continue providing services to someone receiving in-patient care once their case is dismissed due to incompetence. Currently, someone receiving out-patient care can continue to receive care after their case is dismissed, Imel said, so the bill would extend that right to those receiving in-patient care.
The bill would also authorize the department to provide supportive housing to people whose cases are dismissed due to incompetence. A proposed grant program would use Proposition 123 funding for organizations that provide supportive housing to people who have been involved in the criminal or juvenile justice system.
In 2022, Colorado voters approved Proposition 123, which dedicates 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 set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, the 1992 constitutional amendment that places restrictions on Colorado’s tax and spending levels.
The bill also outlines that the process used for determining competency in cases involving juveniles applies to a case if it is filed with or transferred to adult court, Imel said. If a court finds that a juvenile cannot be restored to competency, in certain cases they are then given a management plan by the court.
Another bill would require the Department of Public Safety and the Behavioral Health Administration to establish a stakeholder group tasked with identifying alternative programs used across the state to respond to behavioral health crises. DPS would then compile the list of resources and make it publicly available so local governments that might not have a program in place can see what options are used around the state.
It also requires relevant state departments work together to provide information to the Legislature about where funding shortages and gaps exist throughout the state’s crisis response system, as well as funding options.
Rep. Judy Amabile, a Boulder Democrat who serves as vice chair of the committee, said she wants to see language clearly stated in the bill that requires someone under an emergency 72-hour hold who is evaluated and in need of an extended, short-term hold be directly connected to a proper facility to initiate that hold. Shelby Ross, also an attorney with the OLLS, said her office will work with the BHA to determine the proper language to include based on other parts of the statute.
The bill would also require that the BHA report why someone who was under a 72-hour hold is released, in addition to other information already required in a report.
Ross said the bill drafters updated much of the language in the “not guilty by reason of insanity” statute to include current terminology, as it includes outdated language. Other changes would update requirements for where examinations can take place and how they are recorded.
The committee will vote on the bills during the next meeting, scheduled for Sept. 30, when bill sponsors will also be assigned. Bills approved by the interim committee would be introduced during the 2025 legislative session.
Other committee members include Sen. Dafna Michaelson Jenet, a Commerce City Democrat who chairs the committee; Rep. Mary Bradfield, a Colorado Springs Republican; Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Littleton Democrat; Rep. Regina English, a Colorado Springs Democrat; and Sen. Rod Pelton, a Cheyenne Wells Republican.
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