I have been following Douglas County's efforts to address the mental health needs of our community members. Particularly the needs of our youth — and I'm more than a little perplexed with the recent announcement that they awarded a grant to Castle Rock Pride. Per their website, the mission of Castle Rock Pride is too “build a supportive community for LGBTQ plus residents of Castle rock.” I've reviewed this organization's grant application, and they admit that they have no history of employing a mental health professional. They do imply that a mental health professional will be employed if they were to be awarded a grant, but stepping into the clinical realm is well outside of their mission. On their website, there is no transparency on who the individuals are behind this organization. If there is a desire to expand the mission into clinical work, do they have a board who is qualified to help make this pivot?

I also question why our county commissioners feel compelled to call out the support of one particular identity group, the LGBTQ+ community. Struggles with mental health, drug abuse and suicidal ideation affect far more than one identity group. Douglas County mental health initiatives suicide prevention roadmap states that nearly 62% of all suicide deaths in Douglas County are from individuals who have a history of mental health issues. The Colorado Department of Public Health Douglas County states that of the youth who committed suicide over a four year period, nearly 27% were on antidepressants, and nearly 40% had alcohol and 20% had marijuana in their systems when they died, and nearly 17% had opiates in their system respectively when they died. I'm skeptical that building “positive networks of support and inclusion” will be adequate to help these youths overcome drug and alcohol addiction.

Picking a group of people to support based on particular attribute of said group (e.g., their sexual orientation) is degrading and inhumane. This decision makes me question whether our country commissioners really care about the needs of all youth.

Ursula Kakos

Castle Rock