{"id":21671,"date":"2025-06-27T16:53:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T16:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/award-winning-crisis-response-team-in-montezuma-county-will-close-as-funding-dries-up\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:07:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:07:59","slug":"award-winning-crisis-response-team-in-montezuma-county-will-close-as-funding-dries-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/award-winning-crisis-response-team-in-montezuma-county-will-close-as-funding-dries-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Award-winning crisis response team in Montezuma County will close as funding dries up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Charlee
Charlee Sharp, a certified addiction specialist, and Quinn Deffenbaugh gear up and ready to respond to a noncriminal call, as part of the Community Intervention Program. (Haley Leonard-Saunders\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Montezuma County\u2019s crisis intervention program will be out of funding June 30 and forced to stop its operations.<\/p>\n

In the three years it has been around, the Community Intervention Program has responded to thousands of noncriminal calls countywide.<\/p>\n

It sends a behavioral health clinician from Axis Health Systems and an EMT from the Cortez Fire Protection District for things like substance and alcohol abuse.<\/p>\n

As of June 26, the team had responded to 525 calls just this year; in 2024, 1,077 calls.<\/p>\n

In May, the team was recognized at the Red Cross Rocky Mountain Heroes in Denver for doing \u201crare\u201d work and being a \u201ccommunity champion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The crisis intervention team in Denver. (From left to right: Dante Downey, Charlee Sharp, Quinn Deffenbaugh and Matt Teague.) EMT Brant Kreun was unable to attend. (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cCIP has been such a benefit,\u201d said Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin. \u201cWe\u2019re so shorthanded at the Sheriff\u2019s Office, so losing it is a tremendous loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behavioral health issues seem to be increasing, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust last night we had two separate suicide calls and three mental health-related calls,\u201d said Nowlin. \u201cIt\u2019s happening every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having CIP around to respond to such calls, he said, has taken a burden off law enforcement.<\/p>\n

But funding dried up.<\/p>\n

CIP started in May 2022 as a county program, but as state and county budgets grew ever slimmer, the county cut it at the end of last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gave it a shot, now we\u2019re passing it on,\u201d County Commissioner Jim Candelaria told The Journal<\/em> in early January. \u201cAs funding dwindles, we have to evaluate what we can and cannot do.\u201d<\/p>\n

To save the program, the town of Mancos agreed to be its fiscal sponsor at its board meeting on Jan. 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cMancos needs it,\u201d said Mancos Town Administrator Heather Alvarez months ago. \u201cIf we\u2019ve got to keep a countywide program just for the benefit of people in Mancos, we will.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they did, for a while.<\/p>\n

\u201cOriginally, it was going to end in December. We were lucky to get some bridge funding and get more time,\u201d said Haley Leonard-Saunders, Axis Health System\u2019s public information officer who has worked on CIP since its start.<\/p>\n

The SouthWest Opioid Response District awarded CIP almost $78,000 of opioid settlement dollars to cover the cost of Cortez Fire Protection District\u2019s EMTs. Axis reallocated money to pay for the team\u2019s behavioral health clinicians through June.<\/p>\n

All its collaborators \u2013 the Cortez Fire Protection District, Axis, Mancos and others \u2013 were confident they could find grant money to keep the program going beyond July 1, which was when grant funding was set to run out.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, the funding we identified \u2013 there was a lot out there \u2013 was pulled back,\u201d said Leonard-Saunders.<\/p>\n

Federal cuts slashed the more than 35 grant opportunities they had identified as possible funding sources for CIP. Some of that money was reinstated, but not in time to save the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlus there were funding concerns at the state level,\u201d said Leonard-Saunders. \u201cWe just couldn\u2019t make it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mancos Town Administrator Alvarez said, \u201cWe are devastated we could not continue it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But \u201cthe town of Mancos just could not fully fund this program on behalf of the entire county and other municipalities,\u201d she said. \u201cStaff is working on a program that will solely serve the town of Mancos citizens and residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

That program \u201cis still in the very preliminary discussion phase,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Mancos Town Marshal Justen Goodall said fundraising and grants were not sustainable funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to have a continued stream of revenue,\u201d said Goodall.<\/p>\n

\"Officials
Officials from Montezuma County, towns and Axis Health System celebrated the launch of the Community Intervention Program in May 2022. (Journal file photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

He recommended having eight months of sustainable funding in hand before starting an program like CIP.<\/p>\n

Leonard-Saunders said that all four CIP staff were offered jobs \u2013 two at Axis and two at Cortez Fire.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is without a job, which was really important to us,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re all locals, and they put a lot into this.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she didn\u2019t fully realize the team\u2019s personal impact until she saw Facebook comments about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne person said that they don\u2019t know where they\u2019d be without them. One said how the community is so lucky to have you, another said this program saved my life,\u201d said Leonard-Saunders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe created something so customized to this community and it was completely homegrown,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople got creative to fill a need. \u2026 It makes me hopeful we can do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the meantime, there is still support in the community for those who need it.<\/p>\n

Cortez Integrated Healthcare, 691 E. Empire St., offers walk-in crisis services free of charge. Patients will be connected with a crisis professional on-site or can be connected with a telehealth professional.<\/p>\n

A jail-based behavioral health team helps inmates get back on their feet, and a 24\/7 Axis care line in which a mobile team can be dispatched \u2013 just not as quickly as CIP.<\/p>\n

The Pi\u00f1on Project in Cortez has support services. So does Sand Canyon Therapy<\/a> and Silver Lining Recovery Homes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a continuum of emergency services \u2026 and there are co-responder programs that need to be solidified at the state level and even federal level,\u201d said Leonard-Saunders. \u201cUntil then, the community will have to come up with their own solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story was updated at 2:19 p.m. to correct a quote. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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