PUBLIC INPUT SURVEY

Disability Law Colorado is Colorado’s Protection and Advocacy System for people with disabilities.  The purpose of this survey is to gather information and opinions that will assist Disability Law Colorado in setting its 2020 priorities and objectives for the Protection & Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness program. Disability Law Colorado makes decisions about what work it will do, including the cases it will accept, based on its priorities, which are influenced by your input.  The current Priorities and Objectives for 2019 are stated below. Please feel free to suggest changes, additions or deletions.

Please share this survey with others who are interested in our work on behalf of individuals with mental illness. 

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey. 

PLEASE READ EACH PRIORITY AND OBJECTIVE AND ANSWER THE ACCOMPANYING QUESTIONS

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* PRIORITY 1:  Facilities: Prevent abuse, neglect and rights violations, including Olmstead violations, in Colorado facilities, which include mental health institutes, nursing homes, assisted living residences, children’s residential treatment facilities, public and private psychiatric hospitals and jails.   

Objective 1.a: Disability Law Colorado will investigate complaints and reports from or on behalf of PAIMI eligible residents alleging abuse, neglect and rights violations, having the probability of causing serious injury or death.  DLC will determine whether there is probable cause to investigate the complaint or report, and if found, take action to remedy any abuse, neglect or rights violations found to exist.  Action may range from advocacy on one extreme to litigation and monitoring on the other.  Action will be guided by PAIMI resources, both personnel and funding, the potential for coalition building that can be brought to bear, and seeking systemic solutions when appropriate

Do you think Disability Law Colorado should be working on this priority?

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* Objective 1.b: Prevent serious abuse, neglect and rights violations, in Colorado facilities and settings providing educational services to youth. Disability Law Colorado will monitor and investigate complaints regarding improper use of seclusion or restraint resulting in the risk for serious injury or death from or on behalf of PAIMI eligible youth ages 5 to 21 years.   

Do you think Disability Law Colorado should be working on this priority?

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* Objective 1.c: In FY17, DLC settled its second Jail-Wait lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Human Services challenging the length of time it takes for detainees in Colorado jails to receive competency evaluations or restorative treatment. DLC will monitor and audit the Department’s compliance with the second settlement agreement.

Do you think Disability Law Colorado should be working on this priority?

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* PRIORITY 2:  Community Housing

Objective: Disability Law Colorado will represent PAIMI eligible individuals in subsidized housing, who are at risk of losing their residence. Such representation may include negotiating reasonable accommodations, lease terminations, and companion and service animal cases. Representation under this priority does not extend to representation at eviction or foreclosure proceedings.

Do you think Disability Law Colorado should be working on this issue?

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* Priority 3: Colorado Department of Corrections and Colorado Division of Youth Services.

Objective:  DLC will investigate complaints and reports from or on behalf of PAIMI eligible adults committed to the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) and juveniles committed or detained by the Colorado Division of Youth Services (DYS), and juveniles placed by court order in residential treatment facilities, alleging abuse, neglect and rights violations, having the probability of causing serious injury or death. DLC will determine whether there is probable cause to investigate the complaint or report, and if found, take action to remedy any abuse, neglect or rights violations found to exist. Action may range from advocacy on one extreme to litigation and monitoring on the other. Action will be guided by PAIMI resources, both personnel and funding, the potential for coalition building that can be brought to bear, and seeking systemic solutions when appropriate. In FY17 DLC, as part of the Child Safety Coalition, investigated complaints of excessive force and extended isolation of youth in DYS custody. The investigation produced a public report titled Bound & Broken, and reform legislation which sought comprehensive reforms in the way Colorado treats its committed youth. Disability Law Colorado will continue to monitor DYS’s progress on changing its culture from one of violence to treatment and rehabilitation, as called for in Bound & Broken and the subsequent reform legislation.

Do you think Disability Law Colorado should be working on this issue?

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* Priority 4.  U.S. Bureau of Prisons, U.S. Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility in Florence, CO, known as the ADX, and the United States Penitentiary Florence, known as USP Florence.

Objective: In FY17, DLC settled its lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Prisons over Eighth Amendment violations at the ADX. The settlement agreement calls for DLC to resolve any complaints it receives from inmates concerning the implementation of the settlement agreement. DLC will give notice of this settlement to all new arrivals at the ADX. DLC will investigate, resolve and monitor complaints and reports concerning the implementation of the settlement agreement from or on behalf of PAIMI eligible inmates confined at ADX and USP Florence. 

Do you think Disability Law Colorado should be working on this issue?

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* Priority 5.  Community Mental Health Care System: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 includes provisions that establish accountable care organizations and Colorado’s mental health care delivery system is going through a transition period under its version called the Accountable Care Collaborative, Phase II (ACC 2.0).  DLC has received constituent input from the PAC and from its priorities survey that access to community based mental health care during this vast transformation period is deserving of PAIMI attention.  As Colorado transitions from a Medicaid model of Behavioral Health Organizations to Regional Accountable Entities (RAEs), DLC will monitor the transition to ensure rights such as continuity of care, crisis services, integration of physical and mental health care, consumer knowledge of choices, and consumer empowerment are protected.

Objective: To ensure the provision of community mental health services undergoes a smooth transition.  DLC’s action will be guided by PAIMI resources, both personnel and funding, the potential for coalition building that can be brought to bear, education about rights and services while seeking systemic solutions when appropriate.

Do you think Disability Law Colorado should be working on this issue?

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* If not included in the priorities listed above, what are the top three issues you believe Disability Law Colorado should be working on for individuals with mental illness?  The more detail you give, the better we understand the issue.

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* Are you a

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* OPTIONAL DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION

To assess whether we have obtained input on our priorities from a diverse cross section of the community, we ask that you answer the following demographic information.  You are not required to provide us with this information.

What is your Ethnicity?

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* What is your gender?

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* What is your race?

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* What county do you live in, or provide services to people with mental illness?

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