2017 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 27 - Behavioral Health
Mental Health and Mental Health Disorders
Article 66 - Community Mental Health Services - Purchase
§ 27-66-105. Standards for approval

(1) In approving or rejecting community mental health clinics for the purchase of behavioral or mental health services, the executive director shall:

(a) Consider the adequacy of mental health services provided by such clinics, taking into consideration such factors as geographic location, local economic conditions, and availability of manpower;

(b) Require that overall responsibility for the administration of a community mental health clinic be vested in a director who is a physician or a member of one of the mental health professions;

(c) Require that the treatment programs of the clinic be under the overall direction of a psychiatrist who is a physician licensed to practice medicine in the state of Colorado;

(d) Require that the clinic staff include, wherever feasible, other professional staff workers, such as psychologists, social workers, educational consultants, and nurses, with such qualifications, responsibilities, and time on the job as correspond with the size and capacity of the clinic. The clinic staff may include, with the approval of the executive director, such other nonprofessional persons as may be deemed necessary by the clinic board for the proper discharge of its functions.

(e) Require that each clinic from which services may be purchased be under the control and direction of a county or community board of health, a board of directors or trustees of a corporation, for profit or not for profit, a regional mental health and mental retardation board, or a political subdivision of the state;

(f) Consider the existence of facilities that provide an emphasis on the care and treatment of persons recently released from hospitals or facilities directed toward assisting persons with behavioral or mental health disorders in their adjustment to and functioning within society as a whole.

(2) In approving or rejecting local general or psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers, acute treatment units, and other agencies for the purchase of services not provided by local mental health clinics, including, but not limited to, twenty-four-hour and partial hospitalization, the executive director shall consider the following factors:

(a) The general quality of care provided to patients by such agencies;

(b) The organization of the medical staff to provide for the integration and coordination of the psychiatric treatment program;

(c) The provisions for the availability of nursing, psychological, and social services and the existence of an organized program of activities under the direction of an occupational therapist or of another qualified person;

(d) The licensure by the department of public health and environment or another state agency where applicable;

(e) The methods by which the agency coordinates its services with those rendered by other agencies to ensure an uninterrupted continuum of care to persons with behavioral or mental health disorders; and

(f) The availability of such services to the general public.

(3) In the purchase of services from community mental health centers, the executive director shall specify levels and types of inpatient, outpatient, consultation, education, and training services and expenditures and shall establish minimum standards for other programs of such centers that are to be supported with state funds.