Colorado Poised To Add 44 Mental Health Beds At Fort Logan State Hospital

By Faith Miller, Colorado Newsline

April 4, 2022

As Colorado prepares to pay millions of dollars more in fines for failing to provide timely mental health treatment for people accused of crimes, state lawmakers advanced a proposal to fund 44 new beds at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Fort Logan.

The beds would come with an annual price tag of $11.7 million from the state general fund, plus salary and benefits for 96 full-time state workers. They’re part of the $2.64 billion proposed budget for the Department of Human Services, which would get an increase of $29.6 million from the general fund, mostly comprising income and sales taxes, in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.

The same year it would add the 44 new psychiatric beds — meant for criminal defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial until they receive mental health treatment — the state will be paying $12 million in fines and fees associated with failing to meet deadlines for such competency restoration services. In 2011, Disability Law Colorado sued the state over its long wait times for mental health treatment, and DHS is still accruing fines required under a consent decree the parties reached in 2018.

Somewhat ironically, the $12 million budgeted for consent decree fines and fees in 2022-23 represents a $6 million increase over the current year despite the proposed new beds. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed competency restoration services at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo and jail-based restoration programs, causing the state’s waitlist to grow significantly. This means people can spend months in Colorado jails before the state hospital has space to admit them for court-ordered treatment.

DHS also has $59.9 million in one-time federal funds to spend next year as part of its Child Care Development Fund plan, a multiyear effort using $178 million in pandemic relief money from the American Rescue Act Plan that Congress passed in 2021. The plan includes expanding childcare assistance for low-income families and supporting the childcare workforce. Some of the funds could be used to lay the groundwork for universal preschool by fall 2023.

The department is set to spend an additional $21.1 million, including $12.1 million from the general fund, to increase the rates it pays to community providers — including those that serve youth involved in the juvenile justice system and people affected by mental health and substance use issues. This is part of a 2% across-the-board rate increase that also affects providers contracting with the state’s Medicaid program, managed outside of DHS.

On Thursday, Colorado lawmakers in the House of Representatives approved the budget for DHS and other departments in state government following debate over dozens of proposed amendments. The $36 billion budget legislation heads next to the state Senate.

After that, legislators on the Joint Budget Committee will decide whether to adopt any amendments from their colleagues in either chamber before the General Assembly sends the budget to Gov. Jared Polis ahead of the July 1 start to the fiscal year.

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