Colorado Revised Statutes Title 27. Behavioral Health § 27-50-804. School-based mental health support program--creation--appropriation--definitions--repeal

(a) “Cognitive behavioral skill-building” means a theoretical framework underlying a set of skills that may be taught to help an individual improve emotional difficulties ranging from mild worry or disappointment to severe depression, anxiety, or other mental illnesses.

(b) “Evidence-based” means practices, interventions, or programs that are supported by extensive empirical data, including randomized controlled trials, supporting their efficacy for their intended purpose.

(c) “High-quality training” means in-person or virtual training that includes content on theory, rationale, and concrete skills; leverages demonstrations and skills practice with feedback; is grounded in the field of implementation science; and takes into account the clinical and environmental barriers to implementation.

(d) “Implementation and sustainment support” means providing in-person or virtual coaching to assist public schools in planning, executing, reflecting, and building systems to embed program practices in school operations, preferably in partnership with community-based or hospital-based licensed mental health providers.

(e) “Mindfulness” means a framework and set of practices for helping an individual improve awareness of the individual's own thoughts, emotions, physical feelings, and behaviors to increase the individual's resiliency in response to common life events.

(f) “Multi-tiered systems of support” means a framework for enhancing the implementation of evidence-based practices to achieve positive outcomes for every student by organizing the efforts of educators within systems to be more effective.

(g) “Program” means the school-based mental health support program created in subsection (2) of this section.

(3)(a) No later than January 1, 2025, the BHA shall contract with an external provider to begin implementing the program no later than the start of the 2025-26 school year.

(b) In contracting with an external provider, the BHA shall:

(4)(a) An interested external provider must apply for the contract in the manner prescribed by the BHA.

(b) The BHA shall select an external provider that:

(c) When selecting an external provider, the BHA shall consider whether an applicant is able to:

(a) Are not-for-profit entities;

(b) Incur one-time costs and do not require recurring or additional expenses paid for by the BHA beyond the first year of implementation;

(c) Have a demonstrated history of partnerships, and a clear strategy for building future partnerships, with community or hospital-based providers to assist public schools in implementing mental health supports for students; and

(d) Have a demonstrated history of funding internal and external evaluations of the efficacy of the external provider's program in partnership with institutions of higher education or organizations that have similar skills in conducting randomized controlled trials and other quantitative and qualitative evaluation techniques.

(6)(a) For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, the general assembly shall appropriate two million five hundred thousand dollars from the general fund to the department of human services for use by the BHA to administer the program.

(b) The BHA may use up to one hundred thousand dollars of the total appropriation to administer the application and selection process described in subsections (4) and (5) of this section.