Gov. John Hickenlooper this week lauded Colorado Department of Human Services Director Reggie Bicha and his staff as being “among the best in the United States” after an overwhelming majority of lawmakers recently blasted Bicha’s job performance.

And Bicha vowed to meet with all 84 legislators who signed a letter addressed to Hickenlooper that laid out a long list of leadership concerns inside the agency that oversees the state’s child welfare and mental health system.

The two men spoke with reporters following a Capitol press conference where Hickenlooper received an award for his work on foster care issues. Hickenlooper touted Bicha’s work in that area before giving the embattled director a vote of confidence during press interviews.

The governor received an award from the National Council for Adoption for the state’s efforts in significantly improving permanent housing opportunities for foster kids. Before Hickenlooper took office in 2011 – the same year he hired Bicha to direct CDHS – more than 1,200 kids were awaiting adoption. Today, that number is 251.

“We’re one of the most successful states in the country in getting troubled kids into a loving family home,” Hickenlooper said in praise of Bicha’s work. “This is the kind of stuff that usually doesn’t get recognized.”

“That in no way diminishes our recognition of challenges with the Legislature and obviously there have been lapses in communication,” the governor continued. “We’re going to continue – just as we’re continuing on getting those last 251 kids into loving homes – we’re going to work a lot harder at trying to make sure that we hear clearly what (lawmakers’) concerns are and that we are addressing them.”

While the governor said he is taking lawmakers’ concerns seriously, he admitted he was surprised by the letter.

“I wasn’t aware that the discomfort or the frustration was that deep that the legislators, that so many of them, would join in on writing a letter,” Hickenlooper said. “It just magnifies that we’ve got to work harder and make sure we’re communicating.”

The press event marked the first time the two men appeared in public together since Hickenlooper received a letter from lawmakers on May 4 that blasted Bicha over a number of issues. Legislators demanded in the letter that Hickenlooper “replace or correct” CDHS leadership.

The letter cites “numerous accounts of disturbing issues” at CDHS that have occurred over the last 18 months, through findings in state audits and press reports.

They included allegations of abuse of mentally disabled residents at the Pueblo Regional Center; “recurring issues” involving the over-prescribing of medication to youth offenders and those in the foster care system; and the lack of monitoring of county-administered human services programs.

The letter also states that current and former department employees have complained to lawmakers about “a pervasive hostile work environment,” where workers fear losing their jobs if they were to come forward with their concerns.

“Although there have been some significantly positive improvements in some areas of human services, the negative impacts now have greatly overshadowed those achievements,” the letter reads.

The governor responded with a letter of his own, in which the he addressed each of the lawmakers’ concerns, point-by-point. Hickenlooper defended how Bicha handled the abuse claims in Pueblo, pointing to the “multiple investigations” launched by the director, which resulted in staff members being disciplined.

As for youths being over-prescribed medications, Hickenlooper wrote that CDHS does not prescribe drugs to children in foster care, but that the department has examined the issue and has since put procedures in place to address it.

And Hickenlooper stated in the letter that his office is unaware of any records that indicate a hostile work environment at the department. The governor referenced a 2014 department employee engagement survey that gave positive reviews of CDHS leadership.

The governor also cited several positive changes that have occurred under Bicha’s leadership, including the creation of mobile crisis services units and a 24-hour mental health crisis hotline.

Bicha told reporters that he is “honored” to have the governor’s support and that he hopes to repair relationships with lawmakers.

“There’s been a hiccup in the relationship with the Legislature, a pretty significant hiccup,” Bicha said. “But what we’re going to do is sit down with them and hear from them and put a plan together to work more collaboratively to improve communication and to make certain that we are moving the department of human services, and the work that we do for the people of the state, forward.”

Bicha said he will compile a list of grievances from his meetings with lawmakers to determine what areas need to be addressed.

“If they think we’re going in the wrong direction, we’ll understand why they think that and we’ll work to see if we can’t course-correct that as is necessary,” he said.

Sen. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, said she signed the letter after hearing concerns from her constituents. She said she hopes that positive changes will be felt in her district as a result of the promised dialogue.

“I think if Director Bicha is able to address the people who are primarily impacted by his job, if he can improve that, great,” she said. “If the governor wants to give him some time to do that, great. But I will be listening to the people in my district to see if they have seen that improvement themselves.”

Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont, believes lawmakers got their point across through the letter, saying, “The message has been heard loud and clear.”

“We really wanted to make sure as a legislative body that people understood this wasn’t one or two lawmakers stepping up to say that they’re worried about a situation,” Singer said. “But it’s the full force of the vast majority of the Legislature that really has a lot of questions that need to be directly answered and dealt with.”

Singer, who is the vice chairman of the House Public Health Care and Human Services Committee, said he’s glad to hear that Bicha plans to open up the lines of communication, but that’s just one part of the problem.

“Obviously, I think everybody understands that the more time we spend talking about this, the better it’s going to be,” he said. “But there are also obviously substantive changes (that need to be put in place).

“There are only so many audits you can run to uncover these issues that you have to understand that there needs to be some major systemic shifts that really get to the heart of how we take care of our most vulnerable citizens.”

– Twitter: @VicVela1