The bill addresses multiple recommendations from the Colorado
behavioral health task force (task force), created in 2019, related to the creation of a behavioral health administration (BHA). The BHA would be a single state agency to lead, promote, and administer the state's behavioral health priorities.
The bill requires the department of human services (department)
to submit a plan for the creation and establishment of the BHA on or before November 1, 2021, to the joint budget committee and on or before January 30, 2022, to the department's committees of reference. The bill outlines what the plan must, at a minimum, include. The essential duties of the BHA, once established, are set forth.
A timeline is described for the establishment of the BHA in the
department and for a future determination of what state department, if different than the department of human services, the BHA will exist.
