reggie bicha
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Whistleblowers say they falsified patient records at West Slope mental health center
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A troubled Western Slope mental health care center falsified assessments of its patients’ conditions for at least nine years in an effort to make its treatment programs seem more effective and secure funding from the state, whistleblowers say. The state overlooked what former workers describe as a long practice by the Grand Junction-based Mind Springs…
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State mental health safety net is ‘failing’ Coloradans. Will planned reforms fix or further the problems?
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This investigation is part of the ongoing “On Edge” series about Colorado’s mental health by the Colorado News Collaborative, the nonprofit that unites more than 160 communities and news outlets like ours to ensure quality news for all Coloradans. The series title reflects a state that has the nation’s highest rate of adult mental illness…
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State DHS lauds Larimer County for human services gains
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Larimer County has made the most improvements in its human services programs among the Colorado’s 10 largest counties, and this week it was lauded by the state Department of Human Services for its distinguished performance. DHS executive director Reggie Bicha presented Larimer County the C-Stat Distinguished Performance and Most Improved Large County awards this week.…
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Colorado launches campaign to ‘Lift the Label’ on opioid addiction
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Corey DePooter and Austin Eubanks were nearly inseparable during high school, sharing a love of the same music and hobbies throughout the first two years of high school. At 16, they had their whole lives ahead of them. Then came April 20, 1999. Eubanks and DePooter were both students at Columbine High School and in…
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INSIGHTS: War on drug abuse has hundreds of bullets — and not one that ends the fight
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Millions of dollars and millions of words are spent on fighting Colorado’s drug addiction every year. Real intentions, real money and real lives are at stake. That’s the fight Colorado is in, and it’s emotional, fiscal and, yes, political. In one of the most interesting under-the-radar debates of this session, doctors are quarreling with pharmacies…
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Hickenlooper seeks to coordinate social benefits before leaving office
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Thursday he plans to spend part of his last months in office trying to coordinate his administration’s social benefit programs. Hickenlooper spoke mostly about job training and child welfare during a forum at the Aspen Institute public policy foundation in Washington. He said his first seven years…
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Domestic violence programs benefit from Coloradans getting tax refunds
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The Colorado Department of Human Services is reminding those getting a tax refund this year to consider helping domestic abuse victims. The Colorado Domestic Abuse Fund is one of the causes listed among the check-offs on tax returns. It helps fund 47 local domestic violence programs that answered 63,671 crisis calls and served 18,124 adults…
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Colorado mental health crisis system to add board for new insights
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The Colorado Department of Human Services wants some fresh eyes on the state’s behavioral health crisis system to find problems and solutions for services that touch the lives tens of thousands of Coloradans and their families. The 18-member panel will include local and state officials connected to the system, including four state legislators, that will…
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Colorado politicos tell us all they want for Christmas
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Jon Caldara, by his own admission, is rarely a good boy, but that doesn’t keep the chief of the conservative Independence Institute in Denver from having holiday wishes. “I have stopped asking Santa for my hair back,” said Caldara, who hosts “Devil’s Advocate” each Friday night on Colorado Public Television. “I am now asking Satan…
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Katie McLoughlin to be DHS’s first chief legal director
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The Colorado Department of Human Services has created the position of chief legal director, and Katie McLoughlin will do the job. She’s been Gov. John Hickenlooper’s deputy legal counsel since 2015. “The lives of many Coloradans rely on our programs and services, making our work vital to the health of our state,” Reggie Bicha, DHS’s…
