Present, County Represented
Roy Elliott, Terry McMillian – Crowley
Roger Stagner – Prowers
Troy Bishop – Baca
Jennifer Scofield – Bent
Rob Oquist, Donna Rohde – Otero
Audrey Johnson – Kiowa
Felix Lopez – Las Animas
Miles Lucero, Steve Bryant – Pueblo
Call to Order
Rob Oquist called the meeting to order.
Approval of Agenda
Donna Rohde and Miles Lucero moved and seconded the approval of the Agenda – Agenda approved.
Approval of Minutes
Donna Rohde and Miles Lucero moved and seconded the approval of the minutes – Minutes approved.
Public Comment
No public comment at this time.
Facilitator Update
Rose gave an update in regards to the RFP for Harm Reduction and we received 9 responses. Criminal Justice RFP went out September 2nd because of the holiday and the responses are due back by October 2nd . Also review the settlement MOU.
Financial Manager Report
Wendy gave a brief update with the different meetings, with the state Opioid meeting as well as the regional meetings with the rural areas that has been occurring. Also talked about the 2025-2026 request for funds will be done this next week to pull down the national settlement amounts. Also gave a reminder of the State-wide annual meeting that will be held on October 27th and the region has not been strongly represented in the past and encouraged the board to attend and learn from the great sessions they have at the conference, this is paid for by the settlement.
VOTING ITEM: Catholic Health Initiatives Colorado Foundation
Amber Quartier from Catholic Health Initiative Colorado Foundation asked for an extention of services until March 31, 2026 from September 31, 2025 because of the delay they had in getting a person hired to perform the duties of the original purpose of the grant.
Miles Lucero and Roger Stagner moved and seconded the extension, a roll call vote was taken with a vote of 6 in favor and three excuses absence, motion passed.
Baca – Yes
Bent – Excused
Crowley – Yes
Huerfano – Absent
Kiowa – Absent
Las Animas – Yes
Otero – Yes
Pueblo – Yes
Prowers – Yes
VOTING ITEM: Otero County Public Health Prevention and Education Funds.
Rick Ritter and Dee Leyba from Otero Public Health and Nathaniel Riggs from CSU Research Center gave a brief overview of their project and the 4 goals they have been working at and have achieved. They have been building and supporting infrastructure in 3 of the 4 schools in the district. Prevention practice, CSU evaluating current practices and using Blues programs for depression and opioid use. 40% decrease in depression and other issues. They would like to have an extension until the end of August 2026 to use the full grant proceeds and expand to the other districts with the left-over funds and expand training in the programs, to benefit all of the area. Felix Lopez congratulated them on the success of the program so far.
Felix Lopez and Miles Lucero moved and seconded the extension of the funding until August 31, 2026. A roll call vote was taken with a 7 in favor of and 2 absent, motion passed.
Baca – Yes
Bent – Excused
Crowley – Yes
Huerfano – Absent
Kiowa – Yes
Las Animas – Yes
Otero – Yes
Pueblo – Yes
Prowers – Yes
Presentation: Otero Public Health
Rick Ritter from Otero County Public Health presented on the program that was already talked about in the extension request. Expanding on the Blue Program they are training on. He gave an example of a school age girl that told her parents about the great presentation and teaching and he has had Fort Lyon also ask about the program, because the girls parent works at Fort Lyon and was moved by the positive outcomes from it. Rick talked about the youth suicide rates that have been a problem in their community and how this program is teaching the kids about it. Donna mentioned that several years ago when mental health first aid was brought to area school districts, district leadership was wary about adding “one more thing” to the teachers’ responsibilities with all of their pressures and lack of mental health expertise. There were a lot of discussion on the call about expanding the program to other counties and mental health first aid to decrease the usage of Opioids.
Other Business:
No other business was discussed.
Adjournment
Felix Lopez and Troy Bishop moved for adjournment. Adjournment was at 3:50 p.m.
Next Meeting:
Monday, October 6th at 3:00 p.m.