CPA Lobbying & Legislation 

CPA is committed to protecting your scope of practice and with educating our elected officials about the wonderful work you do.

We represent psychologists and the industry at the state and national levels. We monitor state bills during each legislative session, fighting for bills that positively affect the practice of psychology and against those that might hinder the profession or negatively impact the delivery of mental health services.

Check out our lobbyist's weekly legislative session blog, Under the Dome, for important legislative updates and happenings in the state capitol.

2022 Advocacy Accomplishments

The 2022 legislative session was incredibly active for CPA. We focused on efforts on legislation to clean up HB19-1120, Colorado’s age of consent law. CPA was specifically concerned that youth were being asked to consent to treatment even when seeking services with their parents. There was also confusion surrounding the unique duty warn provisions within the age of consent statute. After discussions with the Colorado Department of Human Services and the Governor’s Office, we were able to amend our changes into HB22-1278: Behavioral Health Administration during the House Public and Behavioral Health and Human Services Committee hearing.  The bill passed on the second to last day of session and was signed by the Governor so our changes are now law.   

There were several bills CPA worked to amend as well:

• HB22-1240: Mandatory Reporters, by the Office of the Childs Ombudsman, reformed the existing mandatory reporting law for child abuse and neglect. The bill also created a taskforce to analyze best practices and recommend changes to training requirements and reporting procedures, specifically with regard to the impacts of mandatory reporting on families of color and under-resourced communities. After initial review, CPA was concerned that there was not any representation from the mental health provider community on the taskforce. CPA was able to successfully advocate for a position on the taskforce and secured it via amendment in the first committee.
• HB22-1256: Modifications to Civil Involuntary Commitment, was a comprehensive overhaul of the 72-hour hold system in Colorado that came together after 18 months of stakeholder work by Mental Health Colorado. The bill included CPA’s negotiated language which expanded who can release holds as long as the professional has two years of experience in behavioral health safety and risk assessment working in a healthcare setting. CPA also worked with Mental Health Colorado to further bolster language on discharge planning although the end language wasn’t as strong as CPA hoped. CPA submitted written testimony in both chambers and the bill passed through the process on May 10^th. 
• HB22-1354: Protecting Injured Workers’ Mental Health Records, was introduced by Representative Lindsay and Michaelson Jenet and Senator Winter was brought forth at the request of a constituent. The bill amends the Workers’ Compensation Act of Colorado to limit the disclosure of records related to a claimant’s mental health. CPA amended the legislation to ensure that only the patient can authorize the disclosure of information by the insurer to an employer.
• SB22-181: Behavioral Health-care Workforce, bill required the Behavioral Health Administration to collaborate with multiple state agencies to create and implement a plan to improve the behavioral health care workforce. The introduced version of the bill included references to unlicensed providers and CPA worked with the social workers to remove those from the bill.