Colorado State Level Activity

• Youth Mental Health Education and Suicide Prevention Act, HB 19-1120, directs the Colorado Department of Education to create and maintain a mental health education literacy resource bank for Colorado with assistance from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Office of Suicide Prevention, the Suicide Prevention Commission and the Colorado Youth Advisory Council.

  • Section I (b) states: “The general assembly therefore declares that it is a matter of statewide concern to allow youth who are twelve years of age or older to have legal access to outpatient psychotherapy services that might otherwise be unavailable without the consent of or notification to the youth's parent or legal guardian. Providing these youth with access to outpatient psychotherapy services is intended to reduce youth suicides and allow registered psychotherapists and licensed social workers to work with youth to teach them functional coping skills. Mental health professionals would have further opportunity to help these youth build healthy connections with parents or legal guardians by increasing communication and strengthening the bond between parent and child, thus building an ongoing nonclinical support system for youth to use to manage their mental health concerns.” 

  • Access the CDE Mental Health Resource Bank here.