Reporting finds Colorado still under fines and short of competency beds a year after consent decree
Fines under the decree were running up to about $1.3 million a month against a $10 million annual cap, and the state said it would not meet the required timelines in 2020. Officials pointed to chronic understaffing, too few beds and rising referrals.
Planned responses included 24 more beds at Pueblo after 70 were added in 2019, 44 beds at Fort Logan, jail-based RISE programs in Boulder County and Arapahoe County, and community services run with a homeless-services partner.
Source: A broken system: Colorado struggles to uphold laws requiring timely mental competency service for detainees, despite losing lawsuits and years of failure — Rocky Mountain PBS, by John Ferrugia
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