The Division of Community, Population, and Public Mental Health (CPP) is the newest division within the Department of Psychiatry.
The Division seeks to be the partner of choice for public and civic organizations in Colorado seeking to improve behavioral health services in their communities.
Our division is rapidly growing by expanding and creating opportunities for Coloradans to connect with the Department of Psychiatry and School of Medicine. Our clinicians provide psychiatric and medical services across varied settings in Colorado including the Colorado Mental Health Hospitals in Fort Logan and at Pueblo, Colorado Department of Corrections, Colorado Department of Human Services, Auraria campus in Denver, American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and dozens of emergency departments across the state. We provide public health training and evaluation for the Behavioral Health Administration, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and partners across the country.
CPP is guided by our values:
- Partnership: We believe that collaboration with federal, state, and local organizations is key to providing comprehensive, high quality, evidence-based mental and substance abuse health services.
- Innovation: We are committed to building and utilizing the evidence base as science makes services better, from prevention and early intervention to treatment and recovery.
- Advocacy: We advocate for exemplary public mental health policy to support individuals struggling with mental illnesses and substance use disorders, their families, and the providers who serve them.
- Humility: We strive to learn from the community members, providers, program leaders, and policymakers we are privileged to work with as well from our successes, and failures.
CPP’s vision
Creating a mental health system that is accessible, engaging, evidence-based, and excellent.
CPP’s mission
We partner with community-based and public-serving organizations in the provision of evidence-based clinical services, training, program evaluation, and research to improve mental health outcomes for Coloradans and beyond.
Our programs receive grant money from a variety of sources, including the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Medicaid offices, state departments across the nation, Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, federal programs, hospitals, and philanthropic funders.
Using a Community of Practice approach, we support organizations across the country in integrating health and wellness as standard practice for both multidisciplinary providers and those they serve. We specifically focus on at-risk populations. Our related research assesses individual as well as health systems change.
Through federal and state level partnerships, including a 20+ year collaboration with Colorado’s State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership (STEPP), we study how to implement nicotine-free organizational policies and nicotine use treatment.
We assist American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and tribal organizations in implementing interventions that we previously developed and tested with research support from the NIH.
Our ACGME-accredited Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship trains psychiatrists for careers in forensic and correctional care settings, teaching, research, and systems consultation.
Our faculty lead teaching in the Department of Psychiatry on many topics including suicide prevention, ethics, topics in forensic and correctional psychiatry, and emergency and crisis psychiatry.
The Behavioral Health and Wellness Program offers individual and organizational trainings for thousands of learners every year in order to provide knowledge, skills, and strategies that increase their ability to support health behavior change.
CPP faculty teach in many academic and community settings.
CPP’s Learning Development team creates content for the Behavioral Health Administrations free online OwnPath Learning Hub.
Colorado Department of Corrections: We provide mental health services including medication management for over 13,000 inmates at 16 facilities across the state of Colorado.
Colorado Mental Health Hospitals at Ft Logan and in Pueblo: CPP faculty provide direct patient care for adolescents and adults in forensic and civil services.
Colorado Department of Human Services: CPP faculty provide specialized forensic evaluations and clinical care for justice-involved youth and adult patients, including those for whom questions of competency are raised.
Health Center at Auraria: We provide mental health services on the Auraria campus through a partnership with Metro State University.
Our Forensic Psychiatry Services faculty deliver direct and telehealth care in correctional and forensic settings across the county.
Medical-legal Consultation Services are provided for an array of public, healthcare, and other community partners.
The Hospital Follow-up Program offers caring contacts for persons after emergency department and hospital visits related to self-harm.
In collaboration with the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health we provide telepsychiatric services to Alaska Native substance misuse treatment programs.
CPP supports the Department of Psychiatry by helping faculty and staff engage in community-facing work across Colorado and the nation.
CPP hosts community listening sessions for the public to learn about the Department of Psychiatry and interact with CU clinicians and researchers.
CPP faculty provide feedback on the clinical, scientific, and health systems impacts related to policy proposals and advocacy efforts.
The Behavioral Health and Wellness Program translates the science of wellness and behavior change for public health practitioners and community agencies across the country.
CU Psych Learning Hub will make training available to the public, for free, from the Department of Psychiatry’s expert psychiatry faculty.
Our Colorado CPP Partners