An Interview with Catherine Strode
On July 1, a state law went into effect making it a class 6 felony to unlawfully confine an at-risk adult and a class 1 misdemeanor to abandon an at-risk adult. This law, enacting penalties for persons convicted of at-risk adult abuse crimes, was the result of hard-fought lobbying efforts of advocates within the Colorado disability community. Leading their fight for legislative change was Denver’s Director of Elder and At-Risk Protection, Jane Walsh. She says this law is a tool to get more abuse crimes reported and prosecuted.
Jane Walsh has been prosecuting crimes against at-risk adults since coming to the United States in 2007. Originally from Scotland, she has practiced law under three different legal systems to defend her passion. That passion is fighting inequities for vulnerable populations and protecting their right to live full and respectful lives.
[Read more…] about Introducing Jane Walsh, Senior Deputy District Attorney, Denver District Attorney’s OfficeNational Arc Fights Court Decision to Invalidate the ACA
An Interview with Catherine Strode
The national Arc is fighting a 2018 ruling in a Texas U.S. District Court that determined the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional. That case is now pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Arc has joined 14 other national organizations representing people with disabilities in filing an amicus brief appealing to reverse the lower court’s decision.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Arc of the United States, Peter Berns, has called the lower court’s decision “an extraordinary threat” for people with disabilities and their families. He says if the ACA is taken off the books, it will set the advocacy efforts for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) back 70 years.
Competency Bill Will Implement Mental Health Consent Decree Orders
An Interview with Catherine Strode
Disability advocates and the state of Colorado reached agreement last month in a legal battle over the long wait times for court-ordered mental health competency proceedings. A Consent Decree was entered into as a result of a lawsuit against the state by Disability Law Colorado. A bill introduced this Session creates alignment with the Consent Decree’s competency proceeding requirements and helps the state avoid violations and penalties.
Entitled, “Actions Related to Competency To Proceed,” Senate Bill 19-223, is a revised version of a competency bill that failed to pass in the 2018 Session. The bill’s sponsor, State Representative Mike Weissman, says the 2019 version has bipartisan support and has been worked on extensively over the past year. He is optimistic that it will win passage this year.
Bill Enacts Penalties Against At-Risk Adult Abuse Crimes
An Interview with Catherine Strode
Last year, nearly one thousand cases of abuse against at-risk adults were reported in Colorado. In Denver, police report over a 200% increase in these types of crimes. Adult Protective Services estimate for every report of abuse against an at-risk adult, many more cases go unreported.
A Colorado legislator has introduced a bill to strengthen efforts to decrease crimes against at-risk adults. Senator Jessie Danielson is sponsoring Senate Bill 19-172 which makes it a Class 6 Felony to unlawfully confine an at-risk adult and a Class 1 Misdemeanor to unlawfully abandon an at-risk adult. Senator Danielson says this bill will cut down on this type of abuse of the most vulnerable Coloradans.
Mental Health Competency Addressed In Criminal Justice Bills
An Interview with Catherine Strode
It is estimated that the incidence of mental illness among prison inmates is three times more prevalent than in the general population. Nationally, more than a third of inmates are reported to suffer from some form of mental illness. Colorado statistics reflect nearly 40 per cent of the state’s inmates are in need of mental health intervention. A package of bills is being introduced this Session to address the issue of competency for individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system.
Senator Pete Lee, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has been one of the architects of the bills. He says the goal is to establish a protocol where individuals in need of mental health care are identified and expediently moved out of the criminal justice system into community treatment care programs.
Bipartisan Support to Combat Colorado’s Youth Mental Health Crisis
An Interview with Catherine Strode
Democrat Rhonda Fields and Republican Lois Landgraf are each sponsoring the same bill, in the State Senate and in the House, to fight the rising youth suicide rate in Colorado. Senate Bill 19-195, Child and Youth Behavioral Health System Enhancements, creates a policy office and a commission to direct, coordinate, and implement children’s behavioral health services across various state agencies.
The bill also provides for standardized behavioral health screening tools for children and wraparound services. Both legislators say wraparound services will reduce the need for facility-based care and out-of-home placements. In addition to addressing the youth mental health crisis, they agree that the bill will result in significant cost savings to the state. Moreover, it will save lives.
Child Discipline Reform Measures Up for Hearing
An Interview with Catherine Strode
This week, the House Education Committee will hear testimony on House Bill 1194. The bill establishes requirements under which public schools can suspend or expel students enrolled in preschool through second grade (usually three or four year olds through 7 year olds). Colorado Department of Education reports that 5,849 kindergarten through 2nd grade public school students were suspended from school in 2017-2018. The bill is aligned with national recommendations that seek to limit school removal for very young children while endorsing thoughtful exceptions that ensure school safety.
The bill has bipartisan sponsors in both the House and the Senate. Republican State Representative Colin Larson, says education is a priority issue for him as a legislator. He supports the bill because he says he doesn’t want to set kids back educationally or developmentally at young ages.
[Read more…] about Child Discipline Reform Measures Up for HearingJail Wait At ‘Crisis Point’ For Individuals With Disabilities
An Interview with Catherine Strode
For the past 12 years, Alison Butler has been advocating for the rights of people with disabilities in her role as the Director of Legal Services for Disability Law Colorado. She has investigated reports of institutional abuse, housing and workplace discrimination, and inequities in education. However, the 2019 Legislative Session may be presenting her with one of her most challenging advocacy issues as she leads a campaign to reform the state’s handling of people with disabilities in the criminal justice system.
Currently, the average jail wait time for a person judged to be incompetent to proceed in Colorado’s criminal justice process is 79 days. Allison is leading an educational and legislative campaign to reduce that wait period down to no more than 14 days. In addition, she aspires to change the way people with disabilities who have committed low level crimes are routed through the criminal justice system. She says this issue in Colorado has reached a point of crisis.
[Read more…] about Jail Wait At ‘Crisis Point’ For Individuals With DisabilitiesCouncil On Developmental Disabilities New Leadership
An Interview with Catherine Strode
For the past five months, the Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council has been under new leadership. Executive Director Joelle Brouner now heads up the Council, consisting of 24 members. Each Council member is appointed by the Governor. Council members fall into three groups: individuals with developmental or intellectual disabilities (I/DD), parents or guardians of people with I/DD, and individuals who work in service systems. Joelle Brouner discusses her vision for the Council’s future work and her goal of creating opportunities for individuals with disabilities to lead lives of their own choosing.
[Read more…] about Council On Developmental Disabilities New Leadership
HCPF Bids Farewell to Medicaid Director Gretchen Hammer
An Interview with Catherine Strode
Gretchen Hammer is recognized as one of the state’s most respected leaders in healthcare. Formerly the State’s Director of Medicaid, she recently left the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. For the past four years, Gretchen has overseen the Department’s Health Programs Office which administers the state’s public health insurance programs for low-income Coloradans including Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+). Prior to HCPF, she served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved (CCMU). As she looks back over the years of her tenure, Gretchen Hammer cites progress for the state’s Medicaid members in that they have reported satisfaction with the delivery and quality of their care.
[Read more…] about HCPF Bids Farewell to Medicaid Director Gretchen Hammer