As used in this part 3, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) Behavioral health administration or BHA means the behavioral health administration established in section 27-60-203.
(2) Behavioral health aide or aide means an individual who:
(a) Addresses mental health conditions and substance use disorders to promote healthy individuals, families, and communities;
(b) Dependent on the level of certification of the individual, may act as a community educator and provide expanded services for more complex behavioral health needs; and
(c) Is familiar with state and local resources and can provide referrals and other additional services.
(3) Behavioral health provider means a recovery community organization as defined in section 27-80-126, a recovery support services organization as defined in section 27-60-108, or a licensed organization or professional that provides diagnostic, therapeutic, or psychological services for behavioral health conditions. Behavioral health providers include a residential child care facility, as defined in section 26-6-903 (29), and a federally qualified health center as defined in the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 1395x (aa)(4).
(4) Community college means a community college described in section 23-60-205 that is governed by the state board for community colleges and occupational education.
(5) Fund means the behavioral and mental health cash fund created in section 24-75-230 (2)(a).
(6) Institution of higher education means a local district college operating pursuant to article 71 of title 23 or an institution of higher education.
(7) Learning management system means an online training curriculum developed for health-care providers in rural and metro areas pursuant to section 27-60-112 (2)(b) to increase competencies in mental health and substance use disorders that will support a high-quality, trained, culturally responsive, and diverse behavioral health-care provider workforce.
(8) Peer support professional has the same meaning as set forth in section 27-60-108 (2)(b).
(9) Plan means the behavioral health-care provider workforce plan created by the BHA pursuant to section 27-60-302.
(10) Priority populations means:
(a) People experiencing homelessness;
(b) People involved with the criminal justice system;
(c) People of color;
(d) American Indians and Alaska natives;
(e) Veterans;
(f) People who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer or questioning;
(g) Older adults;
(h) Children and families; and
(i) People with disabilities, including people who are deaf and hard of hearing, people who are blind or deafblind, people with brain injuries, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and people with other co-occurring disabilities.
(11) Substance use disorder means a chronic relapsing brain disease, characterized by recurrent use of alcohol, drugs, or both, causing clinically significant impairment, including health problems, disability, and failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school, or home.
Source: L. 2022: Entire part added, (SB 22-181), ch. 452, p. 3244, � 2, effective July 1. L. 2023: (3) amended, (HB 23-1301), ch. 303, p. 1838, � 68, effective August 7.
27-60-302. Behavioral health-care provider workforce plan - expansion - current workforce. (1) On or before September 1, 2022, the behavioral health administration shall create and begin to implement a behavioral health-care provider workforce plan to expand and strengthen Colorado's behavioral health-care provider workforce to serve children, youth, and adults. In creating the plan, the BHA shall consider the stakeholder recommendations that address the behavioral health workforce shortage published by the department in December 2021.
(2) (a) The plan shall include:
(I) The development and implementation of recruitment methods to increase and diversify the behavioral health-care provider workforce through identifying the cultural barriers to entering the behavioral health-care field and incorporating the appropriate strategies to overcome those barriers;
(II) Strategies to aid publicly funded behavioral health providers in retaining well-trained, clinical behavioral health-care providers at all levels; and
(III) Regulatory changes to reduce barriers.
(b) As part of the plan, the BHA shall use money appropriated to the BHA to partner with organizations such as local, state, and national organizations representing priority populations.
(3) (a) The plan shall require the BHA to partner with the department of higher education to better prepare the future behavioral health-care provider workforce for public sector service, to develop paid job shadowing and internship opportunities, and to develop partnerships with organizations that can offer such opportunities.
(b) The BHA and the department of higher education shall provide incentives to institutions of higher education for the purpose of marketing and promoting behavioral health-care educational programs to students and increasing the number of students who graduate with a degree in a behavioral health-care field of study.
(4) (a) The plan must include strategies for the BHA to work with community colleges and other institutions of higher education to recruit and develop the skills of residents of rural communities and residents of state-designated health professional shortage areas, as defined in section 25-1.5-402 (11), with the goal of educating these residents in behavioral health-care fields to provide services for children, youth, and adults so that the residents return and practice in the rural areas and other shortage areas.
(b) The strategies implemented by the BHA in subsection (4)(a) of this section shall include student loan repayment programs and scholarships to individuals who are committed to providing behavioral health-care services in rural communities and state-designated health professional shortage areas, as defined in section 25-1.5-402 (11), for at least three years. The BHA shall coordinate and work in conjunction with the Colorado health service corps to expand and increase the loan repayments made pursuant to section 25-1.5-503.
(5) The BHA, in collaboration with the community college system, the department of higher education, and the state work force development council created in section 24-46.3-101, and institutions of higher education shall create a new behavioral health-care educational program that provides tiered advancement opportunities for behavioral health-care providers at all levels, from advancement for individuals in entry-level positions to individuals who hold a bachelor's degree.
(6) The BHA shall use the money appropriated by the general assembly to increase the number of peer support professionals across the state to ensure that a person struggling with a mental health disorder or a substance use disorder who is in need of assistance can connect with a peer support specialist who has had similar experiences living with a mental health disorder or a substance use disorder. The purpose of the peer support professional is to help people achieve their recovery goals through shared understanding, respect, and empowerment. Peer support professionals provide nonclinical support services that align with recommendations from the substance abuse and mental health services administration of the United States department of health and human services, including engaging individuals in peer-to-peer relationships that support healing, personal growth, life skills development, self-care, and crisis strategy development, to help achieve recovery, wellness, and life goals.
(7) The BHA shall include in the plan the recommendations of the director of the division of professions and occupations pursuant to section 12-20-103 (8).
(8) (a) The plan must include proposals to work with local law enforcement agencies, the P.O.S.T. board created in section 24-31-302, a peace officer organization, as defined in section 24-32-3501, a statewide organization representing professional firefighters, and a statewide association representing emergency medical service providers to:
(I) Cross-train current and former first responders in behavioral health;
(II) Help increase cultural competencies in first responders and law enforcement; and
(III) Reduce the stigma of receiving mental health services.
(b) The proposals implemented by the BHA pursuant to subsection (8)(a) of this section must include student loan repayment programs and scholarships for current and former first responders who have at least five years of first responder experience and mental health professionals who are committed to providing behavioral health services in local communities to first responders for at least five years.
(c) The BHA may coordinate and work in conjunction with the Colorado health service corps, as defined in section 25-1.5-502, to expand and increase the student loan repayments made pursuant to section 25-1.5-503.
(9) The plan shall include strategies to utilize Colorado-based behavioral health-care providers to expand telehealth capacity and infrastructure in order to prioritize timely access to behavioral health-care services and address service gaps.
(10) Through an interagency agreement, the BHA shall create a plan for collaboration between the BHA, the department of regulatory agencies, the department of public health and environment, the department of health care policy and financing, the department of education, the department of early childhood, and the department of labor and employment to raise awareness among health-care providers and behavioral health-care providers concerning the availability of opportunities to invest in and strengthen their professional behavioral health-care staff.
Source: L. 2022: Entire part added, (SB 22-181), ch. 452, p. 3245, � 2, effective July 1. L. 2024: (5) amended, (HB 24-1450), ch. 490, p. 3423, � 69, effective August 7.
27-60-303. Behavioral health administration - additional duties - collaboration with state agencies - agricultural and rural community behavioral health program - training curriculum for criminal justice treatment provider endorsement - strategies to strengthen behavioral health-care provider workforce. (1) The BHA shall:
(a) In collaboration with the department of regulatory agencies, establish workforce standards that strengthen the behavioral health-care provider workforce, including telehealth providers, and increase opportunities for peer support professionals and behavioral health aides. If practicable, the standards must be aligned with national standards and address health equity; rural, frontier, and urban needs; pediatric care; specialty care; and care for individuals with complex needs.
(b) Provide and fund opportunities for training and certification with state, national, and international credentialing entities;
(c) Work with other state agencies to reduce the administrative burden across agencies to ensure behavioral health-care providers have additional time to focus on patient care;
(d) Collaborate with the department of public health and environment to:
(I) Further develop current assessments that exist in rules promulgated by the state board of health pursuant to section 25-1.5-404 (1)(a) that measure community-level shortages of behavioral health-care providers who provide services for children, youth, and adults; and
(II) Expand the Colorado health service corps created in section 25-1.5-503 to improve access to behavioral health-care services in communities where workforce shortages exist by providing loans to behavioral health providers to practice in these communities and to work with priority populations; and
(e) Collaborate with the department of higher education, the state board for community colleges and occupational education created in section 23-60-104, the department of education, the state work force development council created in section 24-46.3-101, the department of labor and employment, and the department of health care policy and financing, as applicable, to:
(I) Update career pathways to align with postsecondary degree programs, work-based learning programs, and apprenticeship programs to ensure that behavioral health education and training are responsive to the needs of the labor market in order to provide behavioral health-care services across the care continuum for children, youth, and adults;
(II) Prepare students and current workers in the behavioral health-care field with the skills and credentials they need for jobs and careers, including through the use of the department of labor and employment's work-based learning programs, to assist with identifying industry-relevant skills, certifications, and credentials in the behavioral health-care field;
(III) Secure federal funding that supports training, education, and apprenticeships in behavioral health-care-related occupations;
(IV) Enhance and expand the direct-care workforce to provide behavioral health-care services for children, youth, and adults enrolled in programs administered by the department of health care policy and financing;
(V) Address licensing and credentialing portability issues that affect the ability of children, youth, and adults to access behavioral health-care services;
(VI) Explore the requirements that must be met for certified addiction specialist and certified addiction technician classes to be taught remotely; and
(VII) Explore the feasibility of remote supervisory observation for each behavioral health-care field.
(1.5) (a) The BHA shall create the agricultural and rural community behavioral health program and identify a specific BHA staff person to serve as a liaison between the BHA, the department of agriculture, behavioral health-care providers, rural community leaders, agricultural communities, and nonprofit organizations that serve agricultural communities. The agricultural and rural community behavioral health program shall:
(I) Engage in statewide community outreach to educate communities on the behavioral health issues farmers, ranchers, other agricultural industry workers, their families, and rural communities experience;
(II) Establish interdepartmental relationships; and
(III) Develop an understanding of and address the root causes of behavioral health issues in the agricultural industry and in rural communities.
(b) The agricultural and rural community behavioral health program shall coordinate training for behavioral health providers to serve farmers, ranchers, other agricultural industry workers, and their families experiencing behavioral health issues.
(c) The agricultural and rural community behavioral health program staff liaison shall serve on the agricultural behavioral health community of practice work group, created in section 35-1-121, and provide support to the work group as needed.
(d) The BHA and the department of agriculture shall enter into an interagency agreement to share data collected in the course of understanding and addressing the behavioral health-care issues in the agricultural industry and in rural communities. The interagency agreement must state that the data shared will be aggregated and anonymized, and data sharing must be in compliance with state and federal data privacy laws.
(2) (a) The BHA shall use the learning management system to implement a comprehensive, collaborative, and cross-system training certification and training curriculum of evidence-based treatment and evidence-based criminal justice approaches for behavioral health-care providers working in programs to obtain a criminal justice treatment provider endorsement. The curriculum shall include:
(I) Training to ensure cross-system alignment around a proactive, coordinated, and prerelease care plan for individuals who are incarcerated in jail, prison, and community corrections facilities;
(II) Specialized training and skills-building in cultural competencies and otherwise culturally responsive approaches to supervision and treatment of individuals who are or were in the criminal justice system; and
(III) Specific strategies to address the rights and needs of crime victims and the behavioral health-care provider's role in preventing harm or increasing risk to identified crime victims.
(b) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) of this section, the BHA shall add relevant content to the curriculum developed in the learning management system and shall ensure that the learning management system is accessible and promoted to all criminal justice agencies in the state.
(3) The BHA shall develop strategies to strengthen Colorado's current behavioral health-care provider workforce. The strategies shall include:
(a) Using the learning management system to increase the capacity of providers to support a culturally competent behavioral health-care provider workforce to provide services for children, youth, and adults. This includes building from the standards and statewide core competencies developed pursuant to the learning management system and offering ongoing professional development opportunities to train behavioral health-care providers to treat complex needs across the continuum of care. If practicable, the standards shall align with national standards and shall address health equity; rural, frontier, and urban needs; pediatric care; specialty care; and care for persons with complex needs. The BHA shall use the learning management system to create course work to increase and improve competencies in behavioral health care.
(b) Developing methods supported by the BHA, the department of regulatory agencies, the department of public health and environment, the department of health care policy and financing, and the department of labor and employment for behavioral health providers to address burnout; training; supervision, including the exploration of opportunities for behavioral health providers to be reimbursed for providing clinical supervision; and career pathways for professional behavioral health-care providers.
Source: L. 2022: Entire part added, (SB 22-181), ch. 452, p. 3248, � 2, effective July 1. L. 2024: (1.5) added, (SB 24-055), ch. 469, p. 3270, � 1, effective August 7. L. 2025: (1.5)(d) amended, (SB 25-300), ch. 428, p. 2453, � 46, effective August 6.