Adams County awarded over $1 million to Aurora Mental Health and Recovery, a nonprofit that provides mental health and addiction services, in a public hearing Tuesday.

Adams County commissioners had originally voted to award the money to Aurora Mental Health back in March, following a request for proposals for non-medical detoxification and walk-in crisis services sent out in November. 

On Tuesday, commissioners made that official in a ceremony during public hearing.

Adams County once had a detox service center, but it went under suddenly in 2020,  Alisha Reis, Adams County’s deputy county manager, said. To address the lack of services, a variety of stakeholders, including county law enforcement and service providers, met to create a solution to the gap in services, coming up with last year’s request for proposals.

The new project includes creating a 24-hour detox and crisis center, Reis said.

Emma Pinter, the chair of the Adams County Board of Commissioners, said the county is “thrilled” to partner with Aurora Mental Health as Mental Health Awareness Month in May arrives. 

“Their mission and values align perfectly with Adams County’s,” Pinter said in a news release. “By prioritizing mental health, we are investing in the well-being and health of our entire community.”

Currently, Aurora Mental Health is located near the Anschutz Medical Campus, which is in Adams County, but not close to most of its residents, Kathie Snell, the chief strategy and operations officer for Aurora Mental Health said.

The new location, which has yet to be decided, will be more centrally located.

In Tuesday’s public hearing, Snell said her organization has worked with Adams County for years, but is excited to develop that partnership even more to fill the gap in services.

Aurora Mental Health is in a “strong position” to partner on the project, Snell said, with over 750 current staff members, a strong and growing budget and a wealth of services to offer.

“While behavioral health workforce is a national challenge, we just don’t have enough behavioral health workers in this country, we feel very fortunate that our staff vacancy rate is holding at just over five percent,” Snell said.

“We are able to get folks in quickly and offer access to our community, and it gives us the ability to work on exciting projects like this.”

Snell said they’ve been impressed with the work done in Adams County to address mental health so far and are looking forward to bringing their services and skillset to the community. 

“We will do our best and bring our best to the table to make sure that our services meet the unique needs of this community,” Snell said.