CCCS Internal Across Colorado, behavioral health resources are scarce, and accessing mental health, substance use, and related treatment can be a daunting challenge. The state is predicted to face a deficit of more than 4,400 mental health workers by 2026, and rural Colorado—making up over three-quarters of the state—fares worse than urban areas in terms of access to care. Rural areas have only one mental health provider for every 321 residents, compared to one mental health provider for every 210 residents in urban areas. With such access shortfalls, it is not surprising that rural counties have higher overdose death rates and adult and youth suicide rates.
In fact, over 2.5 million Coloradans live in a community that does not have enough mental health workers. Shelby Gonzales has lived in Trinidad for 10 years and has worked in advocacy and social work for six years. Now the Coordinator of Student Well-being at Trinidad State College, Shelby sees this need every day. “There’s such a long wait list. And the amount of burnout and compassion fatigue among practitioners is astounding, because we’re filtering all of our services through the same people. The capacity just doesn’t exist here. That’s a dangerous place to be.”
This means that in Trinidad and other rural areas of the state, individuals who need care are often forced to travel long distances or forego care altogether. But as Shelby also recognizes, the shortage of providers and cost of obtaining care are not the only barriers that prevent many Coloradans from getting the care they need. Individuals with behavioral health conditions often struggle to seek care due to the stigma associated with both acknowledging their needs and then connecting with qualified care teams. Many feel that seeking help is an admission of weakness.
Shantel Martinez, a behavioral health student at Pikes Peak State College, acknowledges the stigma around mental health among people in her community. “Mental health is something that is not often talked about and it can be considered weak to ask for help.” Helping individuals get over the stigma and ask for help is part of what motivated Shantel to enter the associate degree program in Behavioral Health, Mental Health and Social Work Emphasis.
The stigma can be much more acute in rural areas, where community members “know each other’s business” and self-reliance is considered a non-negotiable. The Colorado Rural Health Center reports that 70 percent of individuals needing care in rural areas compared to 49 percent in urban areas cite discomfort with speaking with professionals about substance use treatment and the fear that someone will find out.
I got inspired by personal and life experiences with mental health…I saw the barriers to mental health and just wanted to be a person to help out.
The Colorado Community College System’s (CCCS’s) innovative Behavioral Health Pathways program, launched in 2024, is addressing the shortage and trying to break the stigma associated with seeking care in rural Colorado and throughout the state. The program offers a set of five first-of-their-kind stackable microcredentials that get learners into the workplace faster, providing them with opportunities to try out career pathways before committing to years of education. The microcredentials offer specific skills and knowledge and can be combined toward an associate or bachelor’s degree.
But the program is doing more than just imparting technical expertise. Colleges are seeking to cultivate health care workers who understand and respect the individuals whom they will support—workers who can connect with patients who may feel hesitant to seek care. And under the Rural Mental Health Development Project (RMHDP), part of CCCS’s overall approach to addressing behavioral health, five rural colleges are taking the idea of empowering compassionate providers even further.
The five participating colleges—Colorado Northwestern Community College, Lamar Community College, Northeastern Junior College, Otero College, and Trinidad State College—each received funding to hire a qualified practitioner to provide counseling and/or wellness services on their campuses. RMHDP colleges can offer individual and group counseling along with other programming and outreach, filling a crucial need for students in communities where behavioral health providers are in short supply. During the Fall 2024 semester, RMHDP counselors and case managers met with nearly 200 students—students who might otherwise not have had access to critical help during times of stress or crisis.
I didn’t know job titles or careers, didn’t even know anything about mental health, but did always know what filled me up – being a positive presence for others in their time of need.
Equally important to providing much-needed quality services on campus, by fostering an environment where students feel supported and empowered to seek help without fear of stigma, the colleges hope that these students might be inspired to pursue a career in behavioral health themselves. Sarah Droege, who serves as Rural Mental Healthcare Lead at CCCS and oversees the RMHDP, explains that “providing behavioral services on the campuses increases student interest in entering the field. The exposure piece is part of the overall strategy of recruiting students into a behavioral health career.”
At Trinidad State College, Shelby agrees that exposing students who need help to quality services can inspire those students to pursue a behavioral health care career. “Sometimes it can be that very thing that makes them say, hey, somebody helped me like that, and I want to make sure that I can do that for somebody else.” She adds, “There’s something to lived experience that you’ll never get from a textbook.” As the students come to understand the value of receiving care, their first-hand experiences can lead to more empathy and understanding, making them better equipped to connect with patients.
I’m a true believer in fighting for the underdog. If I can help students create a better future for themselves, if I can even be remotely helpful, then I should.
The RMHDP, including the practitioners it employs on Colorado’s rural campuses, is funded through legislation passed in 2022 (Colorado Senate Bill 22-181)—the same legislation that bolstered CCCS’s efforts at developing the overall Behavioral Health program. That funding runs out in 2026, adding a sense of urgency to the work. But those involved with the RMHDP are optimistic that the results will speak for themselves and lead to other outside funding or colleges picking up the costs of the on-campus counselors and case managers.
Shelby says that while the need in Trinidad remains massive, she also is confident that the work taking place at her college and across the state is slowly breaking down stigmas and that the state is reaching a place where mental health needs are understood and accepted. “If you look at where we are today compared to a year ago, there’s been a massive turnaround. The program has benefitted everyone involved – students, faculty and staff, and the community overall. I’m optimistic that opportunities will arise to make sure it sticks.”
Read more about CCCS’s Behavioral Health program at cccs.edu/behavioralhealth.
