A pandemic-era program making mental health support accessible for young people in Colorado will become permanent, as state lawmakers have made the program permanent.
Thursday, May 16 is Mental Health Action Day and CBS News Colorado is highlighting ways we all can prioritize our mental health as high as our physical health.
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The free counseling offered to youth via “I Matter” has served more than 12,000 youth since its founding.
“It breaks down the barriers for our students to be able to access mental health, so I think this is huge,” said Nova Center Coordinator Emily Nickerson.
The Nova Center is an alternative school in Littleton Public Schools.
Nickerson says the I Matter program, which offers up to six free counseling sessions with a licensed therapist, has been a game changer.
“I think it’s extremely accessible and easy for kids to navigate and for families to navigate,” Nickerson said.
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“This can be done through telehealth, this can be done in person, and there’s no cost,” said Matt Holtman, children and youth intergovernmental liaison at the Behavioral Health Administration.
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Since its launch in 2021, youth in 63 Colorado counties have taken part in some 47,000 therapy sessions. More than half of the sessions have been in person.
And 80% of youth end up being referred for additional behavioral health care.
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“Even though it’s been wildly successful, again over 12,000 youth in Colorado, we know there’s more out there who haven’t accessed the program,” said Holtman.
For too long, I Matter’s proponents say, young people suffered in silence.
The most common reasons for seeking the therapy include anxiety, depression, concerns over self-esteem, and conflicts with family or peers.
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Behavioral Health Administration
“We have an additional opportunity for our kids to be able to access mental health, whether it’s during the school day or they’re at home but it just provides that opportunity,” said Nickerson.
Access I Matter therapy by going to its official website.
Young people and their parents are encouraged to be as honest and forthright as possible in the questionnaire in order to be matched with the right therapist.
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Anna Alejo
Anna Alejo is CBS News Colorado’s Executive Producer of Community Impact. She works with the news team to develop more grassroots relationships across communities and more original content at the neighborhood level, ensuring diverse voices are represented in programming.
Police in Northern Colorado are investigating after a crash involving multiple vehicles claimed the life of a pedestrian.
The Greeley Police Department received reports of a crash at the 5500 block of Highway 34 around 5:50 p.m. on Monday. When officers arrived, they discovered that two vehicles were involved in a crash with a 19-year-old woman who attempted to walk across the highway.
Police said there was no crosswalk in the area, and she was struck by the driver’s side of a Chevrolet Blazer. The impact knocked the woman into the inside lane, where she was struck by a Chevrolet Traverse. A witness told officers they saw the woman crossing the roadway ‘as traffic arrived at her location.’
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First responders attempted life-saving measures on the woman at the scene before she was taken to North Colorado Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. GPD said the Weld County Coroner’s Office will release her identity at a later time.
Neither driver involved was injured in the crash. Police said they don’t expect charges to be filed against those drivers at the moment, but the case remains under investigation. The police department asked anyone with information on the crash to contact Officer Ed Kubala at Edward.Kubala@greeleypd.com.
Colorado’s best ski deal? Maybe one that costs nothing at all. At Steamboat Springs’ Howelsen Hill, “Sunday Funday is taken to an entirely new level,” reads the city webpage for Ski Free Sundays. Yes, on Sundays throughout the season, visitors need only to walk into the ticket office to grab a pass at no charge. […]
While Colorado ranks near the middle of U.S. states for carbon emissions per capita, it still produces enough CO2 per person to rival countries on the World Bank’s list of top emitters internationally.
In 2023, Colorado produced 13.9 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per capita. If it had been ranked by the World Bank during the same year, Colorado would have placed 14th among the more than 200 countries on the list, just behind Canada, at 14.1, and just ahead of the U.S. as a whole, at 13.7.
Among U.S. states, Colorado ranked 26th in carbon emissions per capita. Wyoming had the highest per capita emissions in the country, at 92.9 metric tons, while Maryland had the lowest, at 7.8.
Most of Colorado’s emissions come from energy production and consumption, primarily natural gas and oil production and electric power production and consumption.
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The Colorado Sun partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
Sources
References:
Colorado State Energy Profile, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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2023 Colorado Statewide Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, pg. 128, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, November 2024. Source link
Senate Bill 24-230 Oil and Gas Production Fees, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December, 2025. Source link
Senate Bill 23-016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Measures, Colorado General Assembly, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Carbon dioxide emissions, World Bank Group, 2024, accessed in December 2025. Source link
Energy-related CO2 emission data tables, U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed in December 2025. Source link
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Type of Story: Fact-Check
Checks a specific statement or set of statements asserted as fact.
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Cassis Tingley is a Denver-based freelance journalist. She’s spent the last three years covering topics ranging from political organizing and death doulas in the Denver community to academic freedom and administrative accountability at the…
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