Over the years, Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council (CBHC) has participated in numerous projects outside our regular scope of work. We are proud to take part in innovative projects that are often in partnership with Colorado government entities or The National Council for Behavioral Health.
Mental Health First Aid Colorado
Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) teaches individuals how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. This eight-hour training gives individuals the skills they need to reach out and provide initial support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem and help connect them to appropriate care. To date, more than 75,000 Coloradans have been trained in MHFA.
Who should take this course:
- Employers
- Police officers
- Hospital staff
- Teachers
- First responders
- Faith leaders
- Community members
- Caring individuals
Take a MHFA Course
Mental Health First Aid offers numerous modules depending on the audience, such as Adult MHFA, Youth MHFA, and soon, teen MHFA.
You can find the right course for you by visiting the Mental Health First Aid Colorado website.
Upcoming Cost-Covered Virtual Mental Health First Aid Instructor Trainings
The Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council, through the Mental Health First Aid Colorado program, is excited to announce four cost-covered virtual instructor trainings happening through April 2025. These sessions include:
Two Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor Trainings
Two Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor Trainings
We encourage you to review the applications below for additional details and share them with your teams and networks. If you have any questions, please reach out to bmolgano@cbhc.org.
Upcoming Training Applications:
Adult MHFA Instructor Training | April 2–4, 2025
Youth MHFA Instructor Training | April 9–11, 2025
Adult MHFA Instructor Training | April 16–18, 2025
Youth MHFA Instructor Training | April 23–25, 2025
An Innovative Model for Integrated Care
In 2015, the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council (CBHC) began a partnership with the Colorado State Innovation Model (SIM) office to facilitate and manage the Bi-Directional Integration Demonstration and Practice-Based Research Pilot Program, a key component of Colorado’s SIM plan designed to integrate primary care and prevention services into the community behavioral health setting. Colorado’s community mental health centers (CMHCs) believe in treating the whole person, and as such, four of these centers were selected to begin piloting models of bi-directional integrated care. These programs, which concluded in July of 2019, have shown that offering a full array of health care under one roof can change the course of an individual’s overall wellbeing for the better.
The goals for this model align with the entirety of the SIM program:
“to improve the health of Coloradans by increasing access to integrated physical and behavioral healthcare services in coordinated community systems, with value-based payment structures, for 80 percent of state residents by 2019.”
Learn More
Learn more about the achievements of the four community mental health centers that were independently selected to create integrated health homes through SIM.
See the Results