Behavioral Health Receives Grant for Mental Health and Criminal Justice Collaboration
The Colorado Department of Human Services and the Office of Behavioral Health have awarded Mesa County Behavioral Health a $4,548,383 grant to enhance collaboration between Mesa County's criminal justice and mental health programs. Out of this total amount, $3,486,061 has been designated for the State Fiscal Year 2024, covering the period from now until July 2024. The remainder of the grant will be issued in the next fiscal year.
Mesa County is committed to closely examining the behavioral health and criminal justice systems to address policy and practice gaps while identifying priority areas for collaboration and enhancement to formulate a comprehensive response and action plan grounded in current research to tackle mental health issues in the county.
The collaboration will include Mesa County Behavioral Health, the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, Mesa County Detention, and various community partners who will be chosen through multiple Requests for Proposals (RFP) processes to improve Mesa County's ability to address mental health issues among the county's most vulnerable individuals by enhancing coordination and capacity. The partnership is expected to enable partners to intervene at an earlier stage, reducing the necessity for incarceration, decreasing recidivism rates, preventing crime, and achieving many other positive outcomes.
The grant funds will be used to establish a countywide Behavioral Health infrastructure, including the renovation of office space at 551 Chipeta Ave., as well as funding for the current workforce and additional staff. Additionally, the funds will support implementing, maintaining, and monitoring the Behavioral Health Action Plan and Criminal Justice System Strategic Plan goals. They will also be utilized to bolster initiatives such as 911/988 diversion, law enforcement diversion, the co-response program, expansion of the Inmate Transition Program, the growth of case management services through the Multi-Agency Collaboration (MAC) Team, and the expansion of community resource programs.
