Since 2021, the Colorado Department of Human Services and the Office of Civil and Forensic Mental Health invested more than $7.5 million to address the homeless and mental health crisis. Through its Fines Committee – which Human Services pays for noncompliance with a consent order – they have funded nine different housing programs, including one in Montezuma County.
IMPACT – Intensive Monitored Preventative and Acute Competency Treatment – serves Montezuma, San Miguel, Delta and Montrose counties and received $428,000 to make housing available with treatment and wraparound services for competency clients.
Currently, the Fines Committee funds IMPACT’s transportation, food, operating costs, a case manager for high-risk clients, house manager, medication, phones, two houses for clients, toiletries, utilities, business clothes for clients and monitoring services including urinalysis tests and GPS ankle monitors.
IMPACT also has the capacity to virtually provide every eligible competency client in the region.
Competency refers to a person’s capacity to function meaningfully and intentionally in a legal proceeding.
Other funded programs include CBER, operated by WellPower, which received $400,000. Colorado Coalition for the Homeless received $1.5 million; Ananeo Housing, $1.1 million; SAFER Opportunities, $2 million; and Monarch Recovery Housing, $953,074.
The Fines Committee also approved funding that is not yet operational. That funding includes $822,000 for Assisted Living of Aurora, $822,000 for Transitional Housing, $313,762 for San Luis Valley Recovery Housing, and $10,000 for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.
When CDHS was sued in 2011 for the failure to execute proficient timely evaluations and restoration treatments, resulting in a notable wait list of pretrial detainees, the Fines Committee collected their forfeitures and funded different housing programs to assist people in the competency system.
CDHS also has been under court supervision from a 2019 consent order and is fined up to $12 million per year for noncompliance. The fines land into a fund for programs that focus on eliminating the wait list.
Representatives from CDHS, Disability Law Colorado and the Special Masters make up the Fines Committee.
According to a news release, the OCFMH also recently put into effect a nearly $300,000 contract with Abt Associates to determine the likelihood of supporting individuals with serious mental illness with Colorado’s behavioral health and judicial systems.
“Providing funding for these programs will have a ripple effect across the mental health and justice systems,” said Leora Joseph, director of OCFMH. “We cannot solve the consent decree without addressing housing for Coloradans experiencing homelessness.”
Programs with creative initiatives, rural communities and agencies are encouraged to apply for support through the Fines Committee. A full list of programs supported by the Fines Fund and more information about it can be found on this graphic.
“Many of these programs help people with psychiatric illness and low-level charges transition out of jail, off the waitlist, and into structured treatment and housing,” said Neil Gowensmith, a special master who oversees CDHS’s consent decree. “This kind of support is not only humane but also effective, decreasing the chances of return to the legal system.”
