Action Alert: Support BHA’s Advisory Council Co-Chair
Call to action from the BHA's Advisory Council! Show up and support. TODAY Friday May 26th at 9:30am MST. Join in-person or on Zoom.
ZOOM LINK: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82356904250?pwd=Qk54YnZ3SEVpU0VrQ2RnTE9ZV0dTdz09#success
In-person protest at:
3387 E. 19th Place
Aurora, Colorado 80011
The Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) is pushing out People of Color from its leadership & ranks, while simultaneously seeking to silence the experience of peer coaches. This is inexcusable in this day and age where true representation is needed.
If you join in-person, please feel free to make a sign following the images provided. If joining via Zoom, we invite you to change your profile photo to one of the images provided.
Any and all can show solidarity by also changing your social media profile picture to one of the images, and also share this post within your networks.
To Whom It May Concern,
As many of you know, Racquel is the Co-Chair of BHA's counsel. She and other appointees represent lived experience, essen ally, they represent US. Over the last six weeks turmoil has been brewing within the BHA. I am wri ng to you today to humbly request your support as the voices of our Lived Experienced commi ee are being silenced. Below, I have listed a loose meline and suppor ve ar cles to inform you of the work Racquel and I have been doing as Bridgeworkers.
● Our state’s “mental health safety net” is failing. For nearly 60 years, our mental health care system has suffered from a lack of oversight and unjust contracts. Access to care has dwindled and our most vulnerable citizens are quite literally dying in the streets.
○ https://coloradosun.com/2021/12/06/colorado-mental-health-centers- investigation/
● On 4/20/23 Gov. Polis announced that Michelle Barnes would serve as Interim Health Commissioner without discussing the absence of the sitting Commissioner Dr. Morgan Medlock.
○ https://www.southplattesentinel.com/2023/04/20/sen-pelton-hopes-for- accountability-from-new-behavioral-health-chief
● Supporters of Dr. Medlock created a change.org petition demanding she be reinstated as the Behavioral Health Commissioner. We believe her removal fits recent political trends where people of color fall victim to defamation and harsh judgements.
○ https://www.justiceformedlock.com
● Dr Medlock supported SB 22-181. The bill designates the reallocation of funds to build our field’s workforce, particularly peer professionals. She supports her
decision with peer-reviewed journal articles touting the efficacy of peer support.
○ https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2022A/bills/2022 a_181_enr.pdf
● Our “safety net” is failing due to non-compete contracts and unethical practices. Ultimately, we were left with fewer providers and high turnover rates due to a massive influx of clients during the pandemic. Below you will find articles written by a co-op of journalists working to shed light on the issue since 2020. SB 22-181 would bolster the workforce by placing peer professionals in communities across the state.
○ https://colabnews.co/projects/on-edge-colorado-mental-health-system- records-falsification/
○ https://colabnews.co/projects/on-edge-colorado-mental-health-system- records-falsification/
● 4/24/23 Racquel speaks on behalf of counsel members from the bedside of Chris in ICU. Members who feared retaliation from their supervisors expressed concern with the influx of BIPOC members resigning from the BHA.
● 5/11/23 The following week Racquel emailed Ms. Barnes and her fellow counsel members. In it she spoke about trauma informed leadership and what it feels like to be person of color within the BHA since their voices haven't been acknowledged. Portions of her email were leaked to the Gazette. The article provides an unbiased stand on the issue. Every perspective is noted.
○ https://gazette.com/colorado-watch/colorado-behavioral-health- administration-roiled-by-turmoil/article_46a2647a-f0f8-11ed-81cc- 6fdcdfa0ef05.html
● 5/11/23 late evening, finally get an email to meet after she blamed others for the lack of connection.
● 5/24/23, Ms. Barnes has yet to respond to the raw vulnerability Racquel expressed. Ms. Barnes Gaslights Racquels experience by sharing how much she has had to do since becoming interim commissioner, never acknowledging Racquel's experience.
● Racquel agreed to meet with Michelle and Bob (BHAAC Chair person) to begin
building a bridge while touring a community mental health organization. This week that meeting was moved from a private event to public view against Racquel and Bob's wishes. She was told this will be viewed via Zoom by the public rather than the usual exchange between community partners. Racquel and other lived experience counsel members do not feel heard. They believe they are merely props for the BHA to display diversity and lived experience without the power the title holds.
I believe this is an attempt to silence Racquel who has been vocal about being a token and requiring transparency from our BHA. She has been ignored and gaslit as if her requests are frivolous. To add insult to injury, if a private meeting is desired by Racquel she has to be in that meeting alone, without support from the Chair, a steadfast ally since this ordeal began. She would be isolated, a common strategy to assert power and control. Racquel is choosing to keep the cameras on so she is not alone. She is inviting us to be with her. I will not allow her to go through this alone and I hope you all will join me.
The Charge: If you feel led and have time, join me Friday morning either over Zoom or in person. We will stand in support of the power of lived experience; we want our community representatives to have more than just photo ops and sound bites; we want justice and equity over faux diversity; and we require trauma informed leadership from one of the highest potions in our states mental health care system. We are more than a box to be checked, we face to be seen and a voice to be heard.
If you can attend via Zoom, I ask that you replace your photo with a graphic we will release later stating, "More Than Diversity". Zoom link to follow. If you join me on location we will hold picket signs with the same phrase. Address is 13387 E. 19th Pl, Aurora, Co. 80011. No one is required to join and no one will be "punished" for not attending. Please utilize the resources I have provided; I encourage each of you to do your own research as well.
Bridgeworks,
Committee Lead -Danielle Finklea Co-Lead -Racquel Garcia
Sign the Petition to Reinstate Dr. Medlock
On Monday, April 17, 2023, Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) Commissioner, Morgan Medlock, MD, MDiv, MPH, a Black community leader, was unjustly removed from her Colorado cabinet position without cause. Her removal risks the lives of millions of people in Colorado who deserve accessible, trauma-informed, and culturally-responsive behavioral health care. It also perpetuates the message that strong, qualified Women of Color are vulnerable to the whims of political systems and cabinet leadership.
Demand justice for Dr. Medlock by signing the petition for Governor Polis to bring her back as the Commissioner of the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration (BHA).