Welcome to the Crisis Services Newsletter, distributed monthly to provide updates, share information and provide clarification on behavioral health crisis services covered by the Department of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF). 

HCPF partners with several state agencies to support the behavioral health continuum of care in Colorado. Check out the HCPF crisis services webpage, which provides an overview of behavioral health crisis services, links to engagement forums and additional resources. The crisis services provider webpage has provider-focused resources and features various behavioral health crisis services by community-based, facility-based, and transportation options. There are also links to crisis services hospital billing guidance and non-emergent medical transportation (NEMT) providers (for transportation after discharge from a behavioral health facility).

What’s New?   

Get Trained! 

The Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) Launches Free Online Behavioral Health Educational Platform. Ownpath Learning Hub has been offered to Crisis Professionals to satisfy the requirement to complete the Crisis Professional Curriculum (CPC). The modules available now include: 

• Curriculum Introduction 
• Evidence-based and Promising Practices in Crisis Intervention 
• Initial Telephonic Screening and Standardized Dispatch Protocol 
• Trauma-Informed Care 
• Non-violent Crisis Intervention 
• Cultural Awareness and Responsiveness 
• Crisis Plan Development and Use of Psychiatric Advance Directives 
• Suicide Screening, Risk Assessment and Safety Planning 
• Gender-Responsive Crisis Services 
• Harm Reduction Strategies 
• Supporting Individuals with Dementia in Crisis 
• Managing Privacy and Confidentiality during a Crisis 
• Introduction to Supporting Children, Youth, and Families in Crisis 
• Addressing Substance Use Issues in Crisis 
• Crisis Response for Individuals with Mental Health Conditions and Serious Mental Illness 
• Supporting Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deafblind individuals in Crisis 
• Supporting Children, Youth, and Their Families in Crisis: IDD 
• Supporting Children, Youth, and Their Families in Crisis: De-escalation & Stabilization 
• Supporting Children, Youth, and Their Families in Crisis: Consent Laws and Boundaries 
• Supporting Children, Youth, and Their Families in Crisis: Screening & Assessment 
• Responding to LGBTQIA2S+ Individuals in Crisis 

Over the following weeks, the remainder of the curriculum will be released, be sure to check back often for updates. Training is free and is mandatory for Mobile Crisis Response staff, Walk-In Center staff, and Crisis Stabilization Unit staff. As courses become available, it is encouraged that staff keep up-to-date with completion of available modules. Remember, the BHA has reported a period of delayed enforcement, but it is good practice to be proactive in completing modules to support professional growth and provide BHA feedback on course content. 

To get started go to the OwnPath Learning Hub then select The CPC. From there, you can click ENROLL and then register an account. Once registered, you will be able to access the initial modules of the CPC.