The Looming Void: Absence of Leadership at the BHA
As the impending Colorado legislative session approaches, the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) finds itself in a precarious position with an absence of formal leadership. The unjust removal of Dr. Morgan Medlock in April 2023 has left a void in the Commissioner's role, and the implications of this vacancy are multifaceted and deeply concerning.
Interim BHA Commissioner Barnes’ non-existent BHA budget request was presented via briefing to the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) Thursday afternoon (December 7), and JFM capital sources report that it did not go well, but more on that tomorrow when the session recording is live for soundbites.
The removal of the BHA Commissioner's job posting occurred more than a month ago. Sources report Barnes and Summer Gathercole are allegedly still plotting in the background regarding how to fill the vacancy.
Serving as Interim Commissioner, Barnes has faced fair criticism, particularly concerning her leadership style and apparent disregard for historically excluded identities within the BHA. JFM has documented instances pointing to her unsuitability for the role and concerns regarding her leadership approach.
Since Barnes assumed the Interim Commissioner role in April 2023, the BHA has witnessed a concerning exodus. Four senior leadership team members and over 20 employees, including seven BIPOC leaders and the BHA's Human Resources lead, have departed. A fractured community BHA Advisory Council (BHAAC) has also seen the departure of both Co-Chairs since Barnes took over. And, all of the BHA’s priority projects used to scapegoat Dr. Medlock’s removal are still mostly unfinished, failed to launch, scrapped entirely, or never mentioned again with no one asking. For these white leaders, there is no accountability.
Compounding this, the BHA's Human Resources responsibilities were absorbed by CDHS. Specifically, Jamie Smith, the CDHS Deputy HR Director, who was involved in planning Dr. Medlock's removal alongside Barnes, Gathercole, and Alec Garnett. Leaving this collective to wonder how a human resources department working in lock step with Barnes, unbiasedly supports the BHA staff.
It’s been eight months since Dr. Medlock’s racially motivated removal. Barnes and her interim BHA leadership team are cozying up, yet again, with their former Office of Behavioral Health (OBH) friends, dispersing behavioral health leadership activities under the BHA purview to other agencies. BHA Senior Advisor of Children, Youth, and Families (CYF), who previously reported to Dr. Medlock, is gone. The BHA’s CYF work is now being led by former OBH Director, Robert Werthwein. Werthwein moved to HCPF after resigning from OBH, and made an in-person appearance at the BHA’s all-staff holiday party last week.
It is easy for the JFM collective to imagine the announcement of new BHA leadership will usher in a harsh snap back to the status quo, as these leaders will most likely be white-identifying, privileged in their professional backgrounds, and somehow connected through previous work or friendship with Barnes, or one of the other villains of this story. The revolving door in Colorado politics continues to swing open for privileged insiders and shut on anyone dreaming of transformational change for the people of Colorado, like Dr. Medlock. JFM can only hope to be proven wrong
In the looming shadow of the BHA's vacuum of leadership, the consequences ripple through abandoned priorities and an unsettling exodus, as the corridors of the BHA echo with departures and misplaced accountability. The unjust removal that created this void remains a testament to systemic failures. The impending announcement of new leaders sparks apprehension, for behind closed doors, the ties binding these appointments seem rooted in privilege and familiarity. The void remains unbridged, beckoning for not just leadership, but the principled, inclusive stewardship that this narrative and the BHA sorely lacks.
