First Regular Session Seventieth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO ENGROSSED HJR15-1010 LLS NO. R15-0821.01 Lara Margelofsky x3205 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Fields and Carver, Brown, Court, Duran, Esgar, Foote, Humphrey, Kagan, Keyser, Landgraf, Lawrence, Lee, Lontine, Melton, Navarro, Primavera, Rosenthal, Roupe, Salazar, Thurlow, Vigil, Williams, Windholz, Winter SENATE SPONSORSHIP Crowder and Todd, House Committees Senate Committees HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 15-1010 CONCERNING RECOGNITION AND SUPPORT OF COLORADO SERVES, A 102 STATEWIDE 103 COLLABORATION AND NETWORKING OF THE ORGANIZATIONS 104 THAT SERVE VETERANS, SERVICE MEMBERS, AND THEIR 105 FAMILIES THROUGHOUT COLORADO. EFFORT TO SUPPORT THE INCREASED 1 2 3 WHEREAS, Colorado is home to more than 400,000 veterans, service members, and their families from all conflicts spanning World War II through the Global War on Terror; and 4 5 6 7 WHEREAS, Colorado is also home to some of the best and most innovative veteran-serving organizations in the country, focused on providing services to facilitate veteran transition and integration into Colorado's communities; and Shading denotes HOUSE amendment. Double underlining denotes SENATE amendment. Capital letters indicate new material to be added to existing statute. Dashes through the words indicate deletions from existing statute. HOUSE Final Reading January 30, 2015 101 1 2 3 4 WHEREAS, Despite the wealth of services available for veterans and their families, 22 veterans commit suicide every day in this country, and many more veterans simply fall through the cracks in our support system; and 5 6 7 8 WHEREAS, Many communities and veteran-serving organizations are unaware of local veteran services and of what initiatives are being undertaken in different areas of the state to create a safety net for veterans, service members, and their families; and 9 10 11 12 13 WHEREAS, Supporting veterans with behavioral health challenges means making stronger connections between behavioral health providers, health care providers, employment assistance providers, higher education, the judicial system, providers of social services, local businesses, and the broader community as a whole; and 14 15 16 17 18 19 WHEREAS, Colorado Serves was formed in 2013 as a collaboration between representatives from the state government, federal government, nonprofits, and veteran service organizations with the goal of working with local communities to better connect resources for veterans, service members, and their families throughout the state of Colorado; now, therefore, 20 21 Be It Resolved by the House of Representatives of the Seventieth General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the Senate concurring herein: 22 23 24 25 (1) That we recognize veterans, service members, and their families as valuable resources to our state, and every effort should be made to assist their transition and integration into our Colorado communities; 26 27 28 29 30 (2) That we recognize that community organizations, health and behavioral health care providers, local governments, higher education institutions, and members of the business community are essential to the smooth transition and integration of these men and women into our communities; 31 32 33 34 (3) That we recognize the need for community organizations, local governments, and members of the business community to collaborate and connect with one another to share information and identify the needs for the veterans, service members, and their families within their -2- 1010 1 communities; and 2 3 4 5 6 (4) That we recognize the efforts of Colorado Serves to assist in facilitating these community efforts, connecting services throughout Colorado, and communicating the services being provided to veterans, service members, and their families to the entire population of the state of Colorado. 7 8 9 10 Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to Governor John Hickenlooper; Major General Michael Edwards, Colorado Adjutant General; the United Veterans Committee of Colorado; and the Colorado Board of Veteran' Affairs. -3- 1010