March 26, 2021 - Jail Based Behavioral Health Services (JBBS) in collaboration with Forensic Services and jail providers has expanded services to incarcerated individuals who have been court-ordered to and are awaiting admission to inpatient competency restoration. The Department currently has contracts with 10 counties to provide the enhanced competency services: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Mesa, and Pueblo. These jails house over 90% of Colorado’s competency-involved inmates, and many of the jails are reporting success with this new programming.
The law (C.R.S. 27-60-105(6)) allocated funding to the Jail Based Behavioral Health Services (JBBS) Program to address gaps in services including jail screening, mental health assessment and diagnosis, and enhanced mental health treatment services for those identified as needing competency restoration services.
The Larimer County Competency Enhancement Program started in September 2020. Since that time, more than 20 clients have been admitted into the program with many referrals pending. Recently, this multidisciplinary team—in partnership with Rocky Mountain Human Services’ Momentum Program and Larimer County Rescue Mission— developed the Community Restoration Transition Housing Program (CRTH). This program provides clients who are transitioning from the jail to outpatient restoration with a secure shelter bed, access to wraparound care through a variety of community partnerships and ongoing behavioral health, vocational, and outpatient restoration support. In March, the CRTH accepted its first client.
In Mesa County, the Competency Enhancement Program started on October 1, 2020; since then it has served an average of 15 clients per month. The Forensic Support Team and Competency Enhancement Program work together with the goals of client stabilization. This is done by encouraging medication compliance and behavioral health engagement. To date, the program boasts seven successful interventions with individuals who were unwilling or unable due to mental health acuity to engage in jail-based services. Through ongoing determination and rapport building with the client by the clinical team, these clients engaged in mental health services, voluntarily agreed to take medication, remained medication compliant, and several stabilized enough to be considered for outpatient restoration services.
The Forensic Support Team, Bridges Liaison, Competency Enhancement team, and jail mental health providers work together throughout the Program with the goals of providing clinical support to individuals waiting in the jail for inpatient restoration, identifying defendants who would be suitable for outpatient restoration, building community transition plans based on clinical assessment, partnering with community based agencies to support transition plans, providing support and resources to clients after transition from jail, and through multidisciplinary collaboration and teamwork identify more efficient processes as clients navigate and experience the legal, competency evaluation, and restoration systems.