Submit a complaint

Complaints improve care

Let the Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) know if you or someone else has experienced problems, dissatisfaction, or harm when seeking or receiving behavioral health services. We want to know about it so we can explore the issue, seek solutions, and improve care.

You can complain directly to your provider and to BHA. You have the right to complain even if we can’t fix the issue. We know that submitting a complaint is not easy and we appreciate the courage it takes to share your concern. Complaints help us understand what went wrong.

Examples of complaints include:

• Mistreatment
• Unprofessional behavior
• Poor service
• Discrimination
• Accessing care
• Safety or harm
• Abuse or neglect

Your provider should not punish or treat you badly because of your complaint. BHA has a no-tolerance policy towards any acts of retaliation against a complainant or client. Learn more about retaliation.

After you submit a complaint

Your report helps us understand what went wrong and improve care. Here’s what you can expect from us after you submit a complaint:

1. We review your issue
We will review the situation and see how we can help. We might reach out to get more information about what happened. 

2. We investigate
During an investigation, we work with other agencies and facilities to better understand the issue.

3. We update you
We will update you as soon as we can. You’ll get updates from us every 30 days. If you submitted an anonymous complaint, we will not contact you with updates.

We review all complaints. There are many different agencies that regulate mental health and substance use services. We investigate and resolve issues at facilities that we license. Sometimes an issue will fall under the oversight of another state agency,  and we work to relay this information to these other agencies if we think they can help. 

Your safety

We do our best to protect you by hiding your identity from the providers we investigate. 

Privacy

All complaints are confidential. 
We won’t share any personal information, like names or contact information publicly. During an investigation, our BHA staff will use discretion when asking providers for information about your complaint, to maintain your confidentiality, but we may need to request content (i.e., client records, emails, or conduct staff interviews) to better understand your specific issue. . Even though we strive to protect your identity, sometimes it is still possible to figure out who submitted a complaint. Healthcare providers cannot retaliate based on complaints. Learn more about retaliation and what to do. 

You can also submit an anonymous complaint. 
If you submit a complaint without your contact information, we can’t give you updates or ask you more questions. We will always protect anonymous complaints unless Colorado's Open Records Act (CORA) requires us to share them.

We analyze and publish complaint data on our website. We don’t include any personal information. We may need to share a complaint if there is a public information request. Data helps other agencies, lawmakers, and the public see issues in our services and facilities. Data helps change laws that make behavioral health services better across the state.

Retaliation

Retaliation is discrimination or getting unfair treatment because you submitted a complaint. Your provider cannot punish or treat you badly because of your complaint. Retaliation might include:

• Not getting care
• Getting fired
• Getting poor treatment

If you think you are experiencing retaliation, submit another complaint to let us know. Make sure to include as much detail and documentation as you can.