2020 Vision for Improving Mental Health Care in the State of CO

It’s an unsettling and stressful time for our youth. Suicide is the leading cause of death for Colorado kids and teens ages 10 to 24, while countless other children struggle to get the help they need. We are currently ranked 34th in the Mental Health America’s youth rankings, which indicates that youth have higher prevalence of mental illness and lower rates of access to care in the state of Colorado: one of five youth are affected by mental illness, yet only one in three of those affected receive mental health services. On top of that, there is only one mental health provider for every 755 residents in urban areas and only one mental health provider for every 1,282 residents in rural areas. 2221 Society says enough is enough.

 

This year, 2221 Society has stepped up in a bold way to advocate for kids who are struggling with mental health challenges. We have made a commitment to provide better access to families, so they have the right mental health care at the right time. When kids have access to support early on, mental health problems do not escalate to emergencies. 2221 Society is excited to join forces with Partners for Children’s Mental Health and fundraise for the implementation of the PracticeWise Managing and Adapting Practice (model). This model will help equip rural providers with the tools, skills, and support required to respond to mental health needs in their community.

 

PracticeWise offers several benefits:

• Innovative tools based on local needs

• Evidence-based decision making

• Implementation support for treatment programs

• Increased patient access to effective treatment

 

 

2221 Society’s fundraising goal is to raise $400,000 in 2020. This amount of funding will enable two Partners for Children’s Mental Health’s clinicians to become fully trained MAP therapists to then go out into Colorado’s rural communities as Supervision & Consultation Trainers to train nearly 100 other professionals in the mental health arena on how to utilize PracticeWise and how to become MAP Therapists. Throughout the three-year implementation plan, Children’s Colorado will closely evaluate the success of the “train the trainer” approach by looking at the quality of care, access to care and overall return on investment. This will ultimately increase access to care not just in our community, but across rural communities and the entire state of Colorado. Partners for Children’s Mental Health has a plan for extraordinary change, and we believe that through providing extraordinary philanthropic resources, we can help them get there. 2221 Society is passionate about partnering to create a better mental health future for children.