mental health

This week on Regional Roundup: Dolores Huerta speaks in Denver, immigrant advocacy in the Mountain West, ICE and mental health, mining on public lands, and more.

As young people across the country continue to die in the fentanyl epidemic, El Jebel resident Cath Adams is spreading awareness in schools and other venues about the synthetic opioid drug after losing her 21-year-old daughter to an accidental overdose in 2020.

Mind Springs Health in Grand Junction was considering a partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this year to offer inpatient mental health care services to detainees. But when community concern mounted over how the potential deal could make it easier for ICE to arrest immigrants in Western Colorado, the mental health care provider abandoned contract discussions.

Four states have set up procedures for people to restrict sales of guns to themselves voluntarily.

Local high school students involved in the Youth Leadership Council are tackling several issues, including youth mental health, cost of living, and substance abuse.

Last week, the Upper Colorado River Commission held a virtual meeting on developments concerning a controversial government program designed to pay water users to curb their use. The System Conservation Pilot Program, or SCPP, is intended to help boost flagging water levels in Lake Powell. Some farmers and irrigators in southwest Colorado – and in other Upper Basin states like New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming – had reservations about applying, concerned about deliberately not farming their land in order to save water. Chuck Cullom, the executive director of the commission, says the process leading up to this iteration of the SCPP was rushed, something he says the commission takes responsibility for. And a set of bills that would expand treatment for people with eating disorders passed the state Senate Tuesday.

A new bill approved at the Colorado State House would give psychologists the power to prescribe medication to patients. House Bill 1071 is sponsored by Republican State Senator Cleave Simpson, who represents House District 6. And state regulators say there are almost 500 orphan wells across Colorado. The abandoned drilling sites continue to release greenhouse gas emissions.

Research shows that LGBTQ+ youth have higher rates of anxiety, depression and suicide than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. On this week’s health and prevention report, KSJD’s Lucas Brady Woods talked to Liz Filas, a mental health therapist with the Four Corners Child Advocacy Center, to break down what that correlation means and why it's important to understand.

Colorado Democrats are sending Governor Jared Polis a bill that aims to protect unrestricted access to abortions. And troubles continue for Mind Springs Health, which provides behavioral health services in ten counties on the west slope.

A new study documents the rising mental health crisis in rural western communities. Will Walkey from KHOL in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, has more.