SEE SUIT

anonymous plaintiffs, all teenagers who have for months or years been checked into hospital emergency rooms and psychiatric facilities but then were refused step-down residential treatment because no beds are available.

The case is similar to major lawsuits fi led in other states, including Illinois, which was forced to revamp its mental health system for children in a 2018 settlement.

“Colorado needs a comprehensive mental health plan of care for these children, and there are signifi cant gaps and missing links that need to be rectifi ed,” said Robert Farley, the attorney handling the Colorado case who also successfully sued Illinois. “These children have legal rights to get the necessary services.”

The three plaintiffs, identifi ed only as A.A, B.B. and C.C., should have received intensive mental health services in their communities — an entitlement under federal law for children on Medicaid government insurance, according to the lawsuit. The suit, fi led Sept. 3, seeks class-action status to represent other children who have not received needed treatment. The children have been unfairly “institutionalized,” it alleges.

One is a 13-year-old Northglenn boy who has been hospitalized at Children’s Hospital Colorado since March because the state has refused to pay for a less-restrictive residential treatment center. The teen, who has reactive attachment disorder and other mental health issues, remains hospitalized due to the lack of other options, according to the lawsuit.

Another is a 16-year-old Castle Rock girl who has been in the emergency department at Children’s Hospital Colorado since July 31. The state has been unable to fi nd a longterm residential program, despite looking out of state, according to the lawsuit.

The teen, who is suicidal and has post-traumatic stress disorder and reactive attachment disorder, has been admitted to an emergency room 17 times because of her mental health struggles, the suit says.

The child, who has busted open her head by banging it on the wall and tied sheets around her neck, has had to rely on emergency treatment while in crisis instead of receiving long-term care that would improve her mental health, according to the lawsuit.

The third plaintiff is a 13-year-old Aurora girl diagnosed with major depression and an anxiety disorder who has been hospitalized three times. She’s living at home but needs to go to a residential treatment center, which the state has not provided, according to the lawsuit.

Law creates entitlement

Under federal law, children who qualify for Medicaid are entitled to receive medically necessary mental health services through a program called “Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Service.”

The goal of the lawsuit, which names Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing Executive Director Kim Bimestefer, is to force Colorado to build a better spectrum of care so that children have more options other than emergency hospitalization, Farley said in an interview with The Colorado Sun.

The state Department of Health Care Policy and Financing declined to comment, noting that it is against department policy to discuss pending litigation.

The lawsuit comes at a pivotal time for Colorado, where suicide is the leading cause of death for young people and Children’s Hospital Colorado recently sent up a fl are for legislative help because its emergency room is crowded with suicidal and depressed kids and teens.

About 2,300 children received intensive community-based services through the state Medicaid department’s Children’s Extensive Support Waiver program, but in order to qualify, children must have an intellectual or developmental disability.

Similarly, 163 children received services through the state’s Children’s Residential Program, but to qualify, children had to have a diagnosed intellectual disability. The system is discriminatory, Farley alleged, when only certain children can qualify for residential care.

Farley initiated the lawsuit after receiving various calls for help from families in Colorado, he said.

“You just can’t fl ip a switch overnight and create a mental health system for children,” Farley said, explaining that any changes ahead for Colorado are likely to take years.

Some families are desperate

In many states, mental health treatment for children is so inadequate that families get to the point that the only safe place they can fi nd for their child is a psychiatric hospital, he said. Each time their child is stabilized and released, the options for step-down programs, such as day treatment or residential centers, are “slim to none,” Farley said, so the child goes home until the next emergency rush to a psychiatric facility.

The situation gets so dire that some families eventually refuse to take their children home, which results in the hospital calling child welfare authorities. Under the custody of the child protection division, children receive placement in a residential treatment facility.

“It gets to the point where families become desperate,” Farley said. “They don’t see hope. They don’t see progress. They get to the point where we have to do something.”

Farley said he knows many kids, not just his 16-year-old Colorado client, who have had more than a dozen visits to the emergency room for psychiatric problems. “That’s not an unusual situation,” he said. “It’s not just somebody falling through the cracks. If you’ve had to go to the emergency room 17 times, something is not working.”

In some cases, children are adopted from the foster care system and have severe mental disorders related to early childhood trauma, Farley said. Their adoptive parents struggle to get them help, despite having Medicaid coverage.

Residential programs, which cost about $700 or even $900 per day, have been shrinking in Colorado, leaving families and the state to seek beds out of state. Colorado needs to boost its options along the mental health treatment spectrum, including better in-home programs and community programs with the aim of keeping kids out of residential centers and hospitals, Farley said.

In May, Children’s Hospital Colorado declared a “pediatric mental health state of emergency” and said its emergency rooms were overwhelmed by children in psychiatric crisis. Mental health emergency room visits were up 90% in April compared with April 2019 and the hospital reported seeing three or four kids each week who had just attempted suicide.

The exterior of Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, photographed on in 2019.

PHOTO BY JOHN INGOLD/THE COLORADO SUN

This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. The Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

Public Notices

/s/ David Gill, Douglas County Treasurer

Legal Notice No. 939675 First Publication: September 16, 2021 Last Publication: September 30, 2021 Publisher: Douglas County News-Press

Children Services

(Adoption/Guardian/Other)

Public Notice In the Interest of: ZAMIRACLE A/K/A ZAMIRA ROSE ARMIJO, D.O.B.: 9/9/2020; Child,

And concerning: LUCIA CAMILLE ARMIJO AKA CAMILLE ARMIJO, D.O.B.: 11/26/1991; Mother; TIMOTHY JAMES MACULEWICZ, D.O.B.: 12/7/1977; Possible Father, JOHN DOE; Possible Father Respondents,

And ARIANA ARMIJO, D.O.B.: 7/18/1998,

Maternal Aunt, MONICA ARMIJO, D.O.B.: 8/19/1974, Maternal Grandmother, Special Respondents.

lreigrut@douglas.co.us aborkowski@douglas.co.us

CASE NUMBER: 20JV174 DIVISION 8

DEPENDENCY SUMMONS

This Summons is initiated pursuant to Rule 2.2 of the Colorado Rules of Juvenile Procedure, Rule 4 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, and Section 19-3-503, C.R.S. 2020.

TO: JOHN DOE

TO THE RESPONDENT NAMED ABOVE:

You are hereby notified that a petition has been filed which alleges that the above-named child is dependent or neglected as per the facts set forth in the Dependency and Neglect Petition, a copy of which may be obtained at the office of the Douglas County Attorney’s Office. Your presence before this court is required to defend against the claims in this petition. IF

YOU FAIL TO APPEAR, THE COURT WILL PROCEED IN YOUR ABSENCE, WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE, TO CONDUCT AN ADJUDICATORY HEARING AND MAY ENTER A JUDGMENT BY DEFAULT THEREBY ADJUDICATING YOUR CHILD AS A DEPENDENT OR NEGLECTED CHILD.

You have the right to request a trial by jury at the adjudicatory stage of this petition. You also have the right to legal representation at every stage of the proceedings by counsel of your own choosing, or if you are without sufficient financial means, appointment of counsel by the Court. Termination of your parent-child legal relationship to free your children for adoption is a possible remedy in this proceeding. If that remedy is pursued, you are entitled to a hearing before a Judge. You also have the right, if you are indigent, to have the Court appoint, at no expense to you, one expert witness of your own choosing at any hearing on the termination of your parent-child relationship. If you are a minor, you have the right to the appointment of a Guardian ad litem to represent your best interests. You have the right to have this matter heard by a district court judge rather than by the magistrate. You may waive that right, and in doing so, you will be bound by the findings and recommendations of the magistrate, subject to review as provided by sec. 19-1-108(5.5), C.R.S. 2020, and subsequently, to the right of appeal as provided by Colorado Appellate Rule 3.4.

This summons is being initiated by the Douglas County Department of Human Services through its counsel.

Dated: August 30, 2021

/s/ Angela Borkowski Angela Borkowski, #50088 Assistant Douglas County Attorney