The small team tasked with helping Coloradans navigate mental health services and substance use care shrunk earlier this month after federal funding ran out.
The Behavioral Health Ombudsman of Colorado (BHOCO), an independent office, was created by legislation in 2019 to improve access to care. In its most recent annual report, the team described assisting in a variety of difficult situations, from a family that needed in-home mental health support for their child to an adult with schizophrenia who was discharged from the hospital with no appropriate place to live.
Residents can call and email BHOCO directly and are oftentimes referred by providers as well as local and state agencies.
“The behavioral health needs of many Coloradans are still going unmet due to systemic and complex gaps in the state’s behavioral health system,” BHOCO staff wrote in the report. “Sometimes there is no available funding for care or other resources. Other times, people are unsure where or how to find care or other resources.”
Up until December 2023, the office was staffed by one ombudsman, two part-time deputies and one intake specialist, all funded through a combination of state and federal dollars. But American Rescue Plan Act funding for the BHOCO was spent down by the end of 2023, and now only one full-time employee is left to manage all of the requests for help.
“Resource limitations impact the office’s ability to address an increasing, and complex, caseload in a timely manner,” Deputy Ombudsman Rebecca Swanson wrote in an email to KUNC.
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BHOCO’s caseload has increased by more than 50% since 2021, and the office expects numbers to climb. In 2023, the most common reasons Coloradans contacted the office were to get help finding outpatient care, obtain assistance filing a complaint, or to inquire about long-term residential treatment options.
The changes to BHOCO are particularly impactful for Medicaid patients in Colorado who use behavioral health services. The regional organizations that manage care for patients using Medicaid often direct them to BHOCO’s complaint system for troubleshooting care access and claims denials.
“There is really nowhere else to go that will take grievances or help with appeals,” Andrew Rose, a counselor who advocates for Medicaid mental health services with a group called COMBINE, wrote in an email to KUNC. “In our opinion the existence of BHOCO is essential for the proper administration of Medicaid mental health.”
As the legislative session gets underway, Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration has submitted a budget request to make up for some of the federal dollars previously helping fund BHOCO.
