GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) – Leaders from a statewide coalition focused on child and youth mental health made a stop in Grand Junction this week, bringing the conversation to the Western Slope.
Mind Our Future Colorado is working to make youth mental health a top priority in the 2026 governor’s race. The coalition brings together more than 50 groups, from healthcare providers to educators and community advocates, all focused on addressing what many call a growing crisis among young people.
“Back in 2021, our partners at Children’s Hospital Colorado declared a youth mental health crisis in the state. We’re coming up on the five-year anniversary of that declaration. And while we’ve made some progress, we are still very much in the midst of that crisis,” said Josh Ewing, Executive Director for Healthier Colorado.
Hearing from rural communities
At Colorado Mesa University, leaders hosted a roundtable to hear directly from Western Slope communities. Organizers said too often, conversations around policy happen along the Front Range, leaving rural communities underrepresented.
“What we want to hear from folks here in Grand Junction is especially what’s working? What are the innovative ideas that may be happening here locally or in communities on the western slope that we can look to scale?” Ewing said. “We really want to make sure that we’re hearing from folks across the state, not just along the front range, because this really has to be a statewide solution.”
That input matters in rural areas where access to care can look different. From the hospital perspective, youth often enter emergency departments when they are in a mental health crisis, and the hospitals are not always set up to support youth the way they should be helped and supported, according to coalition members.
“Something that I’ve heard directly from our emergency departments is the higher rates of suicide attempts. Then also in the last few years, there seems to be more eating disorders where youth are showing up in the results of those types of disorders,” said Angelina Salazar, CEO at Western Healthcare Alliance.
Rural challenges
Those challenges are often compounded by distance, workforce shortages and fewer specialized providers, issues that impact Western Colorado communities.
“That’s one of the main problems that I see, especially in more rural communities like Mesa County, is that we have a lot of really great adult-focused therapists. And there’s much fewer people who feel comfortable working with young children because it’s a different skill set, requires different training,” said Alex Hulst, Director of Behavioral Health at Family Health West.
Coalition leaders said the focus is not just on awareness, but on action.
“We don’t want to talk about it anymore. We want to move towards an actual solution for our young people who are our future,” Salazar said.
Colorado ranks 41st for mental health in the country. Suicide is still a leading cause of death for young people in the state.
Next steps
The coalition plans to continue holding conversations across Colorado ahead of the 2026 election. The Mind Our Future campaign plans to host a forum with the leading Republicans and Democrats in May ahead of the June primary for a bipartisan discussion about what the state needs to do to address these challenges.
After the election in November, the campaign will hand over a policy document to the new governor-elect with a roadmap of ideas that they can tackle on day one in office.
Leaders encouraged people to visit MindOurFutureColorado.com to look for opportunities to engage and provide ideas.
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