Susan Greene - December 21, 2021
Dear reader, My faith is rattled lately. This is not so much a crisis of the spirit (although, like many of us, I’ve had my moments these past few years)....
On Edge: The Initial Investigation
An investigative look into Colorado's mental health safety net
- Matt Vinnola was involuntarily hospitalized eight times the year before the Mental Health Center of Denver denied him care. (Van der Laak family photo courtesy of L.J. Dawson)
About the Project
▪︎ The regional “community mental health centers” that serve as the core of Colorado’s safety net system are failing many Coloradans and operating with very little state oversight, a COLab investigation has found. Working with partner journalists across the state, COLab’s Susan Greene found the state has been giving the 17 private, nonprofit centers non-compete contracts and a privileged rate status for half a century.
Some of COLab’s media partners are investigating their local mental health centers, using data gathered by Greene. Together, their work is raising questions and starting community conversations about whether Colorado’s mental health safety net is working.
▪︎ Veteran mental health reporter Jennifer Brown of the Colorado Sun looks at how an unprecedented shortage of behavioral health professionals has affected Colorado’s safety net system.
▪︎ COLab’s Greene takes a close look at the controversial West Slope mental health care provider, Mind Springs Health, and efforts by some communities to, for the first time in the system’s 50-year history, break free from their community mental health center and create their own.
This project is supported in part by the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Reporting and a grant honoring the memory of the late Benjamin von Sternenfels Rosenthal. Our intent is to foster conversation about mental health in a state where stigma and a lack of access run high.
Some of COLab’s media partners are investigating their local mental health centers, using data gathered by Greene. Together, their work is raising questions and starting community conversations about whether Colorado’s mental health safety net is working.
▪︎ Veteran mental health reporter Jennifer Brown of the Colorado Sun looks at how an unprecedented shortage of behavioral health professionals has affected Colorado’s safety net system.
▪︎ COLab’s Greene takes a close look at the controversial West Slope mental health care provider, Mind Springs Health, and efforts by some communities to, for the first time in the system’s 50-year history, break free from their community mental health center and create their own.
This project is supported in part by the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Reporting and a grant honoring the memory of the late Benjamin von Sternenfels Rosenthal. Our intent is to foster conversation about mental health in a state where stigma and a lack of access run high.
The Work
Colorado Politics - March 9, 2022
The Legislative Audit Committee authorized the state auditor to draft a bill that would investigate 17 nonprofit community mental health centers that were granted “non-compete contracts and a privileged rate...
Susan Greene - March 4, 2022
Questions remain about who’s ultimately responsible for keeping the most vulnerable Coloradans from slipping through the cracks...
The Denver Post - February 9, 2022
An effective and well-functioning behavioral health system should treat people in need early to prevent a crisis further down the road. But in Colorado, our system fails to do so...
Boulder Reporting Lab - February 9, 2022
Mental Health Partners, a private nonprofit serving Boulder County, has abruptly closed its weekend walk-in crisis center and cut its weekday hours of operation, citing a worker shortage. The facility,...
Sentinel Colorado - January 27, 2022
On a recent Monday morning, Chief Defender Doug Wilson said six of the eight inmates in the Aurora municipal jail were flagged with a “Code 9,” which signifies the person...
Steamboat Pilot and Today - January 20, 2022
Newfound attention has landed on Mind Springs Health after an investigative series from the Colorado News Collaborative unearthed concerns about how community mental health centers might be failing some of...
The Colorado Sun - January 12, 2022
State investigators are at Mind Springs Health offices in Western Colorado this week to review files and financial documents....
Steamboat Pilot and Today - January 4, 2022
Mind Springs President and CEO Sharon Raggio stepped down Tuesday, Jan. 4. Her resignation after 14 years in the position comes after the Colorado News Collaborative and many of its...
City Cast Denver - January 4, 2022
It seems ironic that in a state that touts healthy lifestyles like hiking and biking and being outdoors, we have some of the worst mental health stats in the country....
Ark Valley Voice - December 23, 2021
Part I of a two-part On-Edge Series about Solvista Health. A conversation with Solvista Heath Centers CEO Brian Turner is bound to be optimistic, as he discusses the gains made...
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel - December 23, 2021
The extensive investigative reporting by the Colorado News Collaborative in Tuesday’s edition of The Daily Sentinel regarding Mind Springs Health was quite revealing. And sobering. It paints a picture of...
The Denver Post - December 21, 2021
Everyone is in agreement that Colorado’s safety-net mental health system is in crisis. All you have to do is drive downtown Denver to get a sense of the vast need....
The Aspen Times - December 19, 2021
Specialized groups, community mental health centers both play roles in meeting local needs...
Colorado News Collaborative - December 19, 2021
Two counties are breaking from their mental health provider. Others are taking notes....
The Gazette - December 17, 2021
For more than three years now, Gazette reporters have been tracking the crisis in mental health care in Colorado. In a nutshell, our system is broken....
The Colorado Sun - December 16, 2021
As state policymakers and media outlets scrutinize Colorado’s mental health system, the head of a trade group representing 17 community mental health centers is calling for an audit. The CEO...
Axios Denver - December 14, 2021
Gov. Jared Polis is responding to increasing scrutiny of the state’s troubled mental health system, agreeing that “the current system has failed far too many people and we are committed...
The Colorado Sun - December 12, 2021
This investigation is part of the ongoing “On Edge” series about Colorado’s mental health by the Colorado News Collaborative, the nonprofit that unites more than 160 communities and news outlets...
Rio Blanco Herald Times - December 10, 2021
We’re bringing you the latest installment in the “On Edge” series from the Colorado News Collaborative this week. The series — a deep dive into the embarrassing state of mental...
Sentinel Colorado - December 6, 2021
Aurora Mental Health Center officials are fast to offer a short list of critical observations about their industry and about their community. Top among them is, “We’re an industry undergoing...
Colorado News Collaborative - December 5, 2021
Will planned reforms fix or further the problems?...
Reflections
Susan Greene - December 6, 2021
Dear Fellow Coloradan, I wrote a whole different letter to you last night about the investigation COLab and our media partners have been working on, which started appearing in big outlets like The...
On Edge: The Initial Investigation
Related Opportunities
December 31, 2023
The Journalists Trauma Support Network (JTSN) is a project of The Dart Center for Journalism...
This project was made possible through collaboration between newsrooms and journalists across the state, who are active partners in the Colorado News Collaborative, or COLab.
To support the statewide effort, donate to the Colorado News Collaborative.