(1) (a) The general assembly finds and declares that: (I) There are people in Colorado communities who are experiencing behavioral health crises and need professional behavioral health crisis care or urgent psychiatric care from skilled mental health clinicians and medical professionals who excel at providing compassionate behavioral health crisis intervention and stabilization; (II) A behavioral health crisis can happen any hour of the day and any day of the week; (III) Persons in a behavioral health crisis frequently come in contact with community first responders who are often unable to provide necessary behavioral health interventions or who must transport these persons in a behavioral health crisis to emergency rooms for services, or, in cases where a crime is alleged, to jail; (IV) Colorado ranks fiftieth in the nation in the number of inpatient psychiatric beds; (V) Fewer than one-half of the persons who are in a behavioral health crisis and are taken to an emergency room are admitted for inpatient hospitalization, meaning that thousands of people each year return to community streets with little, if any, crisis intervention or treatment for behavioral health disorders; and (VI) Significant time and resources are required of community first responders in addressing persons in a behavioral health crisis and, in many cases, this community response is neither timely nor safe for the person in crisis nor cost-efficient for the state. (b) The general assembly therefore finds that a coordinated behavioral health crisis response system: (I) Serves as a comprehensive and preferred response to behavioral health emergencies throughout Colorado by providing for early intervention and effective treatment of individuals who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis; (I.5) As the appropriate and preferred response to behavioral health crises, eliminates the use of the criminal justice system to hold individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis and enhances the ability of mental health providers and hospitals to serve individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis; (II) Provides an appropriate first line of response to individuals in need of an emergency seventy-two-hour mental health hold and utilizes first responders and information technology systems to integrate available behavioral health crisis responses; (III) Should be available in all Colorado communities; (IV) Includes community-based, behavioral health crisis centers where individuals who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis may be stabilized and receive short-term treatment, as clinically appropriate; (V) Decriminalizes mental health disorders by leading the development of a partnership- supported network of crisis services; and (VI) Establishes a statewide framework that creates, strengthens, and enhances community partnerships that will facilitate the preferred response to behavioral health crises, including ensuring that peace officers and other first responders are equipped with a variety of options when they encounter a behavioral health crisis. (c) Therefore, the general assembly declares that it is a matter of statewide concern to incentivize and coordinate existing behavioral health crisis intervention services and to commit resources to expand the crisis response system. (2) Repealed.
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