CROWSS UP DRO ELZZ

Diversifying the field and regulatory challenges

According to the American Psychological Association, 84.47% of active psychologists in 2020 were White compared to 6.18% who were Hispanic, 4.24% who were Black and 3.22% who were Asian.

“We know that our workforce in Colorado isn’t diverse enough,” said Haden of Envision:You. “So, how are we developing a future workforce that represents the identities of the people that live in our communities?”

In addition to his work with Envision:You, Haden said he works as a mental health therapist for a small practice that primarily serves queer clients. Last year, the practice had a year-long waitlist.

“Poor folks (and) communities of color are not getting appropriate care. And so what happens is people quickly disengage from services, so while they have greater needs, the pool of people that are best equipped to serve them is much smaller,” Haden said, explaining the higher rates of suicidality is partly because people can’t get the help they need.

Jae said something that gets in the way a lot, speci cally for therapists of color, is the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), which is Colorado’s regulatory agency that manages the licensing and registration of various professions.

“ e restrictions that are starting to come down to the point where it makes it di cult for therapists to stay licensed because they are trying to protect their clients,” Jae said.

When Crow asked what needs to be changed, Jae said the whole agency needs to be reassessed.

“Speci cally around licensing, registry, supports for therapists. While I am fully supportive and understanding on the need for DORA to protect clients, there also needs to be protection for therapists that are doing the work,” Jae said.

“Protections from what?” Crow asked. “What are the therapists encountering at DORA?”

Jae said, for example, the YouthSeen nonpro t works with young people who are coming out as transgender and nonbinary.

“And we have to deal with schools, we have to deal with parents. And often the parents are not supportive, so complaints then come in against those therapists who are trying to protect those youth.

“And then those youth end up being harmed not only from the parents, but also from the school district, also from the insurance companies, and it’s literally therapists trying to support those youth,” Jae said.

In Colorado, a person 12 years of age or older can get psychotherapy services with or without the consent of their guardian if the mental health professional determines the minor is “knowingly and voluntarily seeking the psychotherapy services and the psychotherapy services are clinically necessary,” according to the Colorado General Assembly’s website.

“We have parents who will literally call and be like, ‘I know you’re seeing my child.’ And the way that we hold con dentiality, we will say, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’” Jae said.

“And, because you don’t give that information, a complaint comes into DORA, DORA has to investigate it, and it comes out of our pockets. It goes against our insurance, and we, then, have to nd a lawyer to be able to confront them — but then also, it takes away from actually supporting youth,” Jae said, explaining parents sometimes get the school involved, creating another challenge.

According to the Trevor Project’s survey, 42% of LGBTQ youth identied school as an a rming space. Approximately 22% reported their family as o ering high social support, compared to 78% saying their family o ered low to moderate support.

Haden said Envision:You aims to develop an integrated wellness campus that includes transition housing for youth, permanent housing for older adults, a clinic and a wellness center.

“We’re focused on intergenerational programming (and) how we can create opportunities for young people that are unhoused and have been through extraordinary trauma,” he said, adding he would like to discuss it with Crow.

SEE CROW, P39