"For example, organizers originally expected $45 million from a new sales tax for mental health and addiction services. But a weaker economy has dropped those expectations to $36 million for the year, according to Rep. Leslie Herod, a leader of the “Caring 4 Denver” effort." Read full article #LeslieHerod #Caring4Denver #mentalhealth #BoldlyForward

"In bolstering treatment options in the city and county, Caring 4 Denver will focus funding on housing for those in need of mental health or substance abuse treatment, as well as training for first responders, Will Fenton, legislative liaison Denver Department of Health and Environment, said Wednesday. Through this effort, the foundation hopes to reduce homelessness, improve long-term recovery, and curb the use of jails and emergency room visits." Read full article #mentalhea

"The 2019 legislative session might have ended on May 3, but Colorado Rep. Leslie Herod is still working. On Tuesday, Gov. Jared Polis signed eight bills she sponsored into law. The octet focused on criminal justice—including parolee voting rights and “ban the box,” an effort to eliminate questions about criminal history on initial job applications." "It’s all part of what has been a busy year for the Denver Democrat, who also took on several leadership positions, including l

"Senate Bill 227, a sweeping piece of legislation aimed at getting drug-overdose medication into schools, expanding the state’s drug take-back program and getting automated external defibrillator devices into more buildings. The bill was sponsored by Pettersen; Kennedy; Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver; and Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver." Read full article #LeslieHerod #GovernorPolis #opioidcrisis #addiction #Caring4Denver #criminaljusticereform

"Almost $12 million was appropriated for the healthy food fund and $37 million for Caring 4 Denver for 2019. The parks fund got just over $37 million and the college fund almost $12 million for the year." "Denver voters approved a citizen-led initiative to increase the sales tax by .08 percent to create the healthy kids fund. A 13-member Denver Food Commission will be created to review applications and make grants to nonprofits and others who are already feeding kids from low

"Our BlackHer Shero of the Week is Leslie Herod, a state representative for Colorado.Representative Herod is the first African American LGBTQ candidate elected to the Colorado State Legislature. Her previous political experience includes serving as deputy political director for President Obama’s reelection campaign in Colorado. She is also a co-founder of New Era Colorado, the state’s leading organization focused on the engagement of young people. Finally, she served as pr

“State Rep. Leslie Herod of Denver spearheaded that city’s campaign. She initially envisioned a proposal that would focus narrowly on stopping the city’s jails from being a de facto public mental health provider. But after talking to more people and traveling around the state, she realized that the city needed a more robust response. “The Denver school district has one of the highest suicide rates in the country,” Herod says. “We don’t have enough funding for therapists in ou

"The 2019 session, which began this past month, will be a pivotal period for Herod. She’s coming off a big win: The Caring 4 Denver campaign not only passed in the November election, but it did so with 70 percent of the vote. “I was shocked by the margin,” Herod says. “It just reinforced that Denverites do care about each other.” This session, Herod will be busy as the vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee and chair of the House Finance Committee. She’ll also lead the C

"In November 2017, Councilman Brooks traveled to Vancouver with state representative Leslie Herod, whose sister had struggled with drug addiction and who was also interested in seeing InSite. By now, both had talked with Raville, and they were inspired to push for a supervised use site in Colorado." "But first they had to deal with another challenge: a severe shortage of space in existing substance abuse treatment and recovery programs. “I can’t get anyone into treatment toda

"Colorado State Representative Leslie Herod, who had founded Caring 4 Denver right before Jamel took his life, took similarly swift action after his death. “When I started Caring 4 Denver, I wasn’t focused on suicide,” Herod tells Yahoo Lifestyle. But Jamel’s death changed that. Now, Caring 4 Denver will raise $45 million per year to fund mental health and addiction services for children and adults, a large amount of which will go to aiding youth, including for suicide preven