Denver’s Behavioral Health Solutions Center provides crisis care, but lacks on‑site medical detox; city and provider outline access and referral changes

The Denver Department of Public Health & Environment and the center operator WellPower briefed the Safety, Housing, Education and Homelessness Committee on Jan. 15 about the Behavioral Health Solutions Center, a city‑operated crisis facility that provides triage, short‑term stabilization and transitional shelter for adults experiencing behavioral health crises.

The center, at 10th Avenue and Federal Boulevard in west Denver, opened in May 2021 in a Department of Human Services‑owned building and is operated by WellPower, Cassie Williams, behavioral health section manager at DDPHE, told the committee. “The Solutions Center provides crisis triage, crisis stabilization treatment, transitional sheltering, ongoing assistance for mental health and substance use, and assistance in transitioning back to the community,” Williams said.

Williams and Marian Roark, access to care manager for behavioral health at DDPHE, described three components of the center: a six‑room drop‑off center for initial peer support, nursing assessment and clinician triage (patients may stay up to 23 hours, 59 minutes); a 16‑bed crisis stabilization clinic with an average length of stay of four to five days for people who meet medical necessity; and a 30‑room transitional shelter for people without a safe discharge plan. Kevin, a program manager at the center introduced in the briefing, said census levels vary by component: the transitional shelter is typically near capacity, the drop‑off area usually has…