State Mental Health Agency
For more information about admission, care, treatment, release, and
patient follow-up in public or private psychiatric residential
facilities, contact your State mental health agency:
Colorado Mental Health Services
3824 West Princeton Circle
Denver, CO 80236
Phone: 303-866-7400
Fax: 303-866-7428
TDD: 303-866-7471
E-mail:
tom.barrett@state.co.us
Internet: www.cdhs.state.co.us/ohr/mhs/index.html
State Protection and Advocacy
Agency
Each State has a protection and advocacy agency that receives
funding from the Federal Center for Mental Health Services.
Agencies are mandated to protect and advocate for the rights of
people with mental illnesses and to investigate reports of abuse
and neglect in facilities that care for or treat individuals with
mental illnesses. These facilities, which may be public or private,
include hospitals, nursing homes, community facilities, board and
care homes, homeless shelters, jails, and prisons. Agencies provide
advocacy services or conduct investigations to address issues that
arise during transportation or admission to such facilities, during
residency in them, or within 90 days after discharge from them.
Contact:
The Legal Center
455 Sherman Street, Suite 130
Denver, CO 80203-4403
Phone: 800-288-1376
Fax: 303-722-0720
TTY: 303-722-0300
Internet: www.thelegalcenter.org
Family Support
The Center for Mental Health Services awards grants to statewide,
family-run networks to provide support and information to families
of children and adolescents with serious emotional, behavioral, or
mental disorders. For more information, contact:
Colorado Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health
P.O. Box 200188
Denver, CO 80220
Phone: 303-572-0302
Fax: 303-572-0304
E-mail:
thefederation@uswest.net
Internet: www.coloradofederation.org
Health Care Financing Administration
The Health Care Financing Administration, which is part of the
Department of Health and Human Services, investigates some
complaints about treatment facilities that receive Medicare and
Medicaid funding. For further information at the national level,
contact:
Health Care Financing Administration
7500 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21244-1850
Phone: 410-786-3000
E-mail:
webmaster@hcfa.gov
Internet: www.hcfa.gov
You may also share your concerns with staff at the Health Care Financing Administration office in your area, which is Region 8. The regional office address and telephone number are:
Denver Regional Office
Health Care Financing Administration
1600 Broadway, Suite 700
Denver, CO 80202
Phone: 303-844-2111
Fax: 303-844-6374
TDD: 800-659-3656
Internet: www.hcfa.gov
Advocacy Organizations
The National Mental Health Association maintains a referral and
information center and can help you locate local chapters. These
local groups have information about community services and engage
in national and state level advocacy. For more information about
the association, write or call:
National Mental Health Association Information Center
1021 Prince Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-2971
Phone: 703-684-7722
Fax: 703-684-5968
Toll-free: 800-969-6642
TTY: 800-433-5959
E-mail: infoctr@nmha.org
Internet: www.nmha.org
The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill maintains a helpline for information on mental illnesses and referrals to local groups. The local self-help groups have support and advocacy components and offer education and information about community services for families and individuals. For information about the Alliance's affiliates and activities in your State, contact:
NAMI Colorado
1100 Fillmore Street
Denver, CO 80206-3334
Phone: 303-321-3104
Fax: 303-321-0912
Toll-free: 888-566-6264 (Statewide)
E-mail:
coloami@sprynet.com
The Federal of Families for Children's Mental Health is a national parent-run organization focused on the needs of children and youth with emotional, behavioral or mental disorders and their families. They provide support and information on a wide range of issues and make referrals to local chapters. These local groups have support and advocacy components. For information about the Federation and the chapter in your State, contact:
Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health
1101 King Street, Suite 420
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Phone: 703 684-7710
Fax: 703-836-1040
E-mail: ffcmh@ffcmh.org
Internet: www.ffcmh.org
The National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse, funded partly by the Center for Mental Health Services, promotes and helps to develop consumer-run self-help groups across the country. Technical assistance and materials are available on such topics as organizing groups, fundraising, leadership development, incorporating, public relations, advocacy, and networking. For more information, contact:
The National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help
Clearinghouse
1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 1207
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: 215-751-1800
Fax: 215-636-6312
Toll-free: 800-553-4KEY (539)
Internet: www.mhselfhelp.org
The National Empowerment Center is a Technical Assistance Center run by mental health consumers/survivors. The Center's mission is to carry a message of recovery, empowerment, hope and healing to people who have been diagnosed with mental illness. The Center provides information and referrals to consumer/survivor resources nationwide and offers technical assistance to individuals and groups involved in consumer empowerment activities. The Center distributes recovery-related publications and sponsors education and training activities. For information on consumer/survivor activities in your area, contact:
The National Empowerment Center
599 Canal Street
Lawrence, MA 01840
Toll-free: 800-769-3728
Fax: 978-681-6426
TTY: 800-TTY-POWER (7693)
Internet: www.power2u.org
Other Sources of Information
There are many sources of information that you can tap. Your area
mental health authority, which is generally a part of the local
government, may be useful. Other branches of your city or county
government also may be able to help. For example, the education
office might have information about help for children, and the
agency for the aging might know about services for senior citizens.
In addition, your family physician or area hospital may be able to
make referrals. For legal advice, contact your local bar
association. Also, your local library and telephone yellow pages
may have resource lists for sources of help in your community.
5/2000
Back to the Index of State Mental Health Resources
These State resources were compiled by a U.S. Government agency - the Knowledge Exchange Network at http://www.mentalhealth.org .