(1) A court liaison hired pursuant to this part 2 has the following duties and responsibilities:
Accessing local community mental health center records and appointment systems,as allowed by state and federal law, to assess treatment history and make direct connections to services for a defendant with a behavioral health condition;
Screening for behavioral health conditions and determining appropriate referral andtreatment options when necessary;
Using the behavioral health information from the statewide court data system, asupdated pursuant to section 16-11.9-203 (4), to make a determination regarding whether a behavioral health consultation would be beneficial in achieving program goals and objectives. If the court liaison operating in the judicial district determines that a consultation would be beneficial, the court liaison shall consult with each judicial officer, defense attorney, and district attorney working on the case, and the liaison must identify, at a minimum, the following information:
The nature of the individual's behavioral health condition;
Whether the individual has a readily available history of behavioral health treatment;
Whether the individual is a current or past client of a community mental healthcenter in the judicial district; and
The local, regional, or state availability of resources that the individual may need,including but not limited to:
Outpatient and out-of-custody competency evaluations or competency restoration services;
Behavioral health services or psychiatric services or supports; or(C) Employment, housing, or other social supports.
Facilitating communication between behavioral health systems and criminal justiceentities and providing consultation to criminal justice personnel regarding behavioral health and community treatment options;
Coordinating with jail-based behavioral health providers to ensure continuity of careand service delivery; and
Identifying existing programs and resources that are already available in the community, including but not limited to:
Co-responder programs that pair local community behavioral health specialists andproviders with law enforcement personnel;
Other criminal justice diversion programs for individuals with behavioral health conditions;
Community mental health centers and other local community behavioral health providers that receive state funding through the office of behavioral health for services such as:
Mental health services for juvenile and adult offenders;
Substance use treatment services for offenders and individuals diverted from thecriminal justice system;
Transition services and wraparound services for individuals with serious mental health disorders who are transitioning from a psychiatric hospital or who require more intensive services in the community to avoid institutional placement; and
Behavioral health crisis response system services or the associated telephone hotline; and
(IV) Behavioral health services provided for medicaid clients through the managed care entity that the department of health care policy and financing contracts with for the provision of such services.
(2) If a consultation occurs pursuant to subsection (1)(c) of this section, the statewide court data system must include a record of such consultation on the individual's case records.
Source: L. 2018: Entire part added, (SB 18-251), ch. 404, p. 2383, § 1, effective June 6. L. 2020: (1)(f)(IV) amended, (SB 20-136), ch. 70, p. 299, § 55, effective September 14.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 20-136, see section 1 of chapter 70, Session Laws of Colorado 2020.