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To learn more about what MHAC is doing to celebrate this anniversary, click the logo below
 60th logo

Click to check out what MHAC was like in the 1960s
2013 marks MHAC's 60th year of mental health service in Colorado.  Over the next sixth months, we will share key moments in our history with you, focusing on one decade at a time.
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MHUW
Mile High United Way Partner
United Way’s 2-1-1

Colorado Gives


May is Mental Health Month

Find Upcoming Events Here



June 20, 2013




 

Transforming Young Minds
(click above for the invitation)

An Evening Celebrating Prevention Education and Community Leadership

as we honor Cleo Parker Robinson for her dedication and use of the arts to transform lives

When: Thursday, July 18 - 5:30pm
Where: Appaloosa Grill

RSVP to Mary Catherine Moss at

720.208.2243 or mmoss@mhacolorado.org


Governor Signs Historic Mental Health Legislation



 
Colorado's sixty-ninth General Assembly convened in January in the shadow of  heartbreaking tragedies here in Aurora and in Newtown, Connecticut. Governor Hickenlooper and legislators from both parties expressed the desire to respond to what the public perceived was a connection between these atrocious crimes: serious mental illness.
 
Mental Health America of Colorado seized the opportunity presented by this renewed public attention to mental health. We fought the stigma associated with mental illness, shifting the public policy conversation away from ideas that would have negatively affected many of the 1.5 million Coloradans living with behavioral health conditions. We worked closely with state agencies and legislators to craft laws driven by 21st century science, shaped by the experience of individuals who have been through the system themselves, and based on the values of equality and dignity that MHAC has championed for the last 60 years.
 
On May 16, 2013, after 120 days of intense legislative work, Governor Hickenlooper came to the Jefferson Center for Mental Health and signed into law HB 13-1296 and SB 13-266, two historic bills that will modernize and improve Colorado's public behavioral health care system.
  

We urge everyone to remember that first and foremost, mental health IS health- it doesn't belong to a separate category. The legislation signed today is an important part of overall health care reform in our state. These bills seek to promote health and wellness through updating involuntary treatment statutes that were written forty years ago, creating a trauma-informed system of care that focuses on an individual's specific needs, and building a statewide behavioral health crisis response system.

Our work now shifts to the implementation phase. We are thrilled that both of these bills are starting points, not destinations. Both create stakeholder processes that will allow us to fine-tune changes and adapt to the diverse behavioral health needs of Coloradans. We invite other health care advocates to contact us and get involved in these efforts. 

Our thanks go to Governor Hickenlooper, Senators Linda Newell and Jeanne Nicholson, and Representatives Tracy Kraft-Tharp, Dave Young, and Beth McCann for their support and leadership this year. 


News from MHAC



Check out the Latest News from MHAC. This page includes articles we've published and pieces in which we were featured.

 


Mental Health America of Colorado and the state of Colorado has had an historic 2013 Legislative Session.  To read more about the sucesses and challenges MHAC faced this session, please click here.

CO Capitol

 



 

In the event of a Mental Health Crisis:

Call 911.

Contact your local mental health center.

Metro Crisis Services 888-885-1222
24-hour Emergency mental health & substance abuse intervention services for the seven county metro area.

Suicide Hotline 800-273-TALK (8255)


Are you in need of free or low-cost counseling or Information
& Referral Resources? Contact:
720-208-2238


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