DDPHE Distributes $10 Million to Fill Behavioral Health Gaps

Published on June 12, 2024

 

DDPHE Distributes $10 Million to Fill Gaps in Behavioral Health Services

19 new projects announced funded by Denver’s ARPA dollars

Denver is investing in organizations that serve the community’s substance use and mental health needs.Using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding, the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE) is working to improve services for Denverites seeking mental health care.  

Nearly $10 million dollars in ARPA funding has been awarded to 19 local organizations that are filling needs in behavioral health services that were identified in a recent needs assessment which outlined service gaps in Denver. The funded projects will improve behavioral health services and support for Denver residents by aligning with one or more of the seven recommendations in the 2022 Behavioral Health Needs Assessment.

The needs assessment, also funded with ARPA dollars, used quantitative and qualitative data to understand the type and level of behavioral health service needs in Denver. It found that for many Denver residents, accessing mental health services can be difficult. As mental and behavioral health conditions have significantly increased in Denver and across the country since the COVID-19 pandemic, DDPHE is focused on ensuring Denverites are getting the care they need.

“ARPA funds have helped us better understand service gaps in our community, allowing us to focus on projects that are most critical to create a healthier and more vibrant Denver,” said Mayor Mike Johnston. “Through these additional funds, we will be able to make data-driven decisions that support residents with substance use and mental health needs.

Through an RFP process, DDPHE selected initiatives that focus on improving coordination, expanding services, and enhancing education and outreach to address the community's most pressing behavioral health needs. Each project meets at least one of the recommendations outlined in the needs assessment.

Funded projects include:

  • Denver Public Schools- Through the Youth Resiliency Liaison Program pilot, trained liaisons connect with students and form trusting relationships and can discover underlying circumstances driving the disruptive behaviors. The liaisons then help the youth and their families access services that are most appropriate for the underlying issue(s). These services may be provided by the school, the school district, city agencies, or community-based organizations. Using this funding, the program now operates in eight middle and high schools.
  • Youth on Record- Youth on Record provides hands-on experience and guidance to any youth (ages 12 – 24) who wants to explore the music industry (e.g., performing, recording, production, promotion, etc.). The funding will support staff who will provide services and supports to youth in the program. It increases the agency’s capacity to not only teach about the music industry but to also address behavioral health issues experienced by youth in the program.
  • The Center for Trauma and Resilience- The Center for Trauma and Resilience provides wraparound behavioral health services that strengthen and improve the lives of Denver residents by mitigating trauma-based causes of mental health concerns. This funding will be used to provide mental health services for survivors of trauma who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color who live in Denver by hiring and maintaining mental health clinicians.
  • Tepeyac Community Health Center- Tepeyac Community Health Center will provide linguistically and culturally responsive behavioral health services to low-income Denver residents. As a part of this grant, funds will be used to support case management, referral coordination, and behavioral health staff for clients seeking behavioral health support, as well as care coordination for clients living HIV. 

Additionally, funds are being used to enhance behavioral health services for individuals newly diagnosed with HIV and those who need more low-barrier access to ongoing healthcare services. See below for a summary of all projects awarded.

The Blue Bench

The Blue Bench

This funding will re-implement the Youth Engagement Program, created in 2018. Blue Bench developed the program in response to interest from youth participating in its other youth prevention programs to increase their involvement in work around preventing sexual violence, as well as The Blue Bench’s commitment to making its programming culturally responsive.

Center for African American Health

Center for African American Health

This funding supports the provision of behavioral health services by increasing the volume of client services via a counseling partnership with the Therapists of Color Collaborative (TOCC), expanding trainings and professional development opportunities for TOCC counselors, and strengthening their non-clinical behavioral health offerings, including resource navigation to needed supports for overall wellbeing, Emotional Emancipation circles, and mental health first aid (MHFA) training.

The Center for Trauma Resilience

The Center for Trauma Resilience

The Center for Trauma and Resilience provides wraparound behavioral health services that strengthen and improve the lives of Denver residents by mitigating trauma-based causes of mental health concerns. This funding will be used to provide mental health services for survivors of trauma who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color who live in Denver by hiring and maintaining mental health clinicians.

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) will use the funds to address gaps in behavioral health services with additional staff at Permanent Supportive Housing properties (Riverfront and Uptown Lofts) and the John Parvensky Stout Street Recuperative Care Center (SCCRCC); Perform a technology upgrade to improve delivery of mental health and substance use treatment services for clients at Fusion Studios (Permanent Supportive Housing property); Train direct service staff across the organization on Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges and emergencies among clients.

Colorado Health Network

Colorado Health Network

This funding will provide behavioral health services to clients through their Colorado Health Network's Behavioral Health Counseling Program.

Denver Children's Advocacy Center

Denver Children's Advocacy Center

This funding will enhance organizational capacity and promote inclusive access to services. Denver Children's Advocacy Center's (DCAC) mission is to prevent abuse, strengthen families, and restore childhood. To achieve its mission, DCAC provides services along a three-part continuum of care: 1) community outreach and education to prevent child abuse and neglect; 2) rapid response to provide immediate support for child victims and 3) mental health treatment and integrated services to help children and families recover from traumatic experiences.

Denver Health and Hospital Authority

Denver Health and Hospital Authority

Denver Health and Hospital Authority will use this funding to contract with behavioral health support services at the Denver Health ID Clinic.

Denver Public Schools

Denver Public Schools

Through the Youth Resiliency Liaison Program pilot, trained liaisons connect with students and form trusting relationships and can discover underlying circumstances driving the disruptive behaviors. The liaisons then help the youth and their families access services that are most appropriate for the underlying issue(s). These services may be provided by the school, the school district, city agencies, or community-based organizations. Using this funding, the program now operates in eight middle and high schools.

Fully Liberated Youth

Fully Liberated Youth

This funding will go to expanding Fully Liberated Youth's Community-Based Intervention Services and School-Based Prevention Services, both programming that center and provide mental and behavioral services to its clients and students.

Harm Reduction Action Center

Harm Reduction Action Center

The Harm Reduction Action Center (through Colorado Nonprofit Development Center) will purchase a building to continue providing services for people who use drugs.

Metro Denver Partners

Metro Denver Partners

This funding will first hire an outreach coordinator to centralize referrals from our outreach worker team who, through years of relationship with organizations and providers through the Denver Metro area, refers clients to culturally- and linguistically-appropriate services that are also financially and geographically accessible for clients.

Mile High 360

Mile High 360

This funding will create a stable and sustainable behavioral health structure impacting all aspects of programming, organizational culture, and student outcomes. The foundational pillar is the hiring of a bilingual social worker as our new Director of Mental Health (DMH). The DMH will drive the mobilization and organization of internal and external resources to unify our programming, strengthen collaborations, and infuse social and behavioral capacity-building objectives into every area of programming and staff development.

Redline Contemporary Art Center

Redline Contemporary Art Center

This funding supports the Redline Contemporary Art Center's Reach program which aims to support participants more holistically in behavioral health support through the arts. This includes peer mentoring and goal setting in a consistent, safe, and inclusive community. Funding will also allow the program to hire an art therapist.

Second Chance Center

Second Chance Center

This funding is for Second Chance Center to provide a High Intensity Team for case management specialists to serve people with serious mental illness or severe and persistent mental illness.

Spring Institute

Spring Institute

This funding will expand and enhance ongoing youth service efforts in Denver's East Colfax community. Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning has been providing services to families in the East Colfax region since 2010 with a unique focus on the refugee/immigrant community. Services have included language access, medical accessibility, and economic growth.

Tepeyac Community Health Center

Tepeyac Community Health Center

Tepeyac Community Health Center will provide linguistically and culturally responsive behavioral health services to low-income Denver residents. As a part of this grant, funds will be used to support case management,

Volunteers of America

Volunteers of America

This funding will be used to provide behavioral health services to individuals at Volunteers of America Colorado's Irving Street Women's Residential facility. Through a dedicated clinician and program staff support, the program will deliver personalized therapeutic services to address barriers in accessing current mental health resources and offer crisis intervention as needed.

Youth On Record

Youth On Record

Youth on Record provides hands-on experience and guidance to any youth (ages 12 – 24) who wants to explore the music industry (e.g., performing, recording, production, promotion, etc.). The funding will support staff who will provide services and supports to youth in the program. It increases the agency’s capacity to not only teach about the music industry but to also address behavioral health issues experienced by youth in the program.

Vivent Health

Vivent Health

Vivent Health will use this funding to provide behavioral health and harm reduction services to program participants.

 

The distribution of these funds underscores Denver's commitment to addressing the growing behavioral health crisis and ensuring that all residents have access to the support and resources they need.

Denver must obligate ARPA local relief funds, totaling $308 million, by the end of 2024 and spend them by the end of 2026. The city solicited and received feedback from over 12,000 residents, Denver City Council, city agencies, the Mayor’s Stimulus Advisory Committee, and the Mayor’s Economic Recovery Council to inform the use of the city’s ARPA allocation. Additionally, more can be seen about progress on the programs in Denver's regularly updated American Rescue Plan Funding Dashboard and story map.