BHA Advisory Council Releases Annual Report - Calls Medlock’s Departure “Devastating”

The BHA Advisory Council (BHAAC) is a group of people with lived experience who applied for and were selected to ensure there is public accountability and transparency across the activities of the BHA. The inclusion of the BHAAC is codified in legislation and BHAAC activities began in 2022.

The first BHAAC meeting occurred on August 18, 2022 and included Dr. Medlock’s vision for co-creation and co-accountability, view the presentation deck and the meeting minutes. 

In the BHAAC inaugural report making one year of service, released earlier this year, the BHAAC comments on the departure of Dr. Medlock as BHA Commissioner. The below is taken verbatim from the official report that was live on the BHA website as of Monday, November 13:

“The Behavioral Health Administration Advisory Council (BHAAC) has been working alongside the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) throughout its conception and through this first year of rough transition. Prior to the departure of Dr. Morgan Medlock, BHA Commissioner, we had consistency, good communication, and felt heard with a high level of transparency. We embodied the vision and the spirit of the BHA to co-create a behavioral health system for all people of Colorado.

Learning of the BHA Commissioner’s departure was devastating to all of us, we experienced the trauma as a result of that loss and lack of communication. We lost trust and felt no accountability between BHAAC and BHA. With the departure of Dr. Medlock BHAAC experienced what felt like a barrier that stopped our progress and impeded our work.

With the onboarding of Michelle Barnes, Interim BHA Commissioner, we have not been able to establish and create the relationship necessary to do the important co-creation work. We feel like we are starting over. Equity and inclusivity have been removed from our conversations and experiences. This shows up in the BHA’s lack of response to questions our members have asked, a lack of guidance on the direction the BHA is heading, and a complete lack of information sharing that hinders our ability to do our work. We are committed to working alongside the BHA despite the disconnection we’re feeling.”

Read the full report here, on the BHAAC page under council recommendations tab.