美国国家公共电台 NPR--Why Colorado's inventive plan to create an emergency mental health care system failed

Why Colorado's inventive plan to create an emergency mental health care system failed

Transcript¹

Ten years ago when 12 people died in the movie theater shooting in Aurora², Colo., leaders promised mental health system reforms. But established providers fought to maintain the status quo.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Highland³ Park, Uvalde, Buffalo⁴ - after mass shootings, the questions are always, why is this tolerated in America? And what must be done to stop it? Stricter gun measures is one answer. Ten years ago, Colorado lawmakers tried to address the problem from a different angle. They directed state money into a plan to create an emergency mental health care system. Colorado Public Radio's Ben Markus reports on what happens next.

BEN MARKUS, BYLINE⁵: Just after midnight, 10 years ago today, the dispatch lines for the Aurora, Colo., police department lit up.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE DISPATCHER: Three-fifteen and 314 for a shooting at Century Theaters, 14300 East Alameda Avenue. They're saying somebody is shooting in the auditorium⁶.

MARKUS: With so many mass shootings, it's easy to forget the unique horror of that night. A large movie theater full of Batman fans at a midnight premiere of the latest movie. A failed neuroscience grad student, heavily armed and in tactical gear, opened fire, killing⁷ 12 people. It was quickly revealed that the gunman had sought psychiatric help before the shooting, and that's where lawmakers turned their focus.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN HICKENLOOPER: We really have a duty after tragedies to, you know, look at what we do and how we act, how we help each other.

MARKUS: That's Colorado's governor at the time, John Hickenlooper. The state would set up a toll-free hotline, patient-friendly walk-in clinics, mobile mental health services.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

HICKENLOOPER: We believe these policies will reduce the probability of bad things happening to good people.

MARKUS: This was radical⁸ stuff at the time, and it was the brainchild of a Colorado state staffer named Chris Habgood. When Hickenlooper asked for ideas, Habgood happened to be ready.

CHRIS HABGOOD: How about this? We've got a report handy right now that the biggest gap in our system is the crisis delivery.

MARKUS: What had been an obscure government project suddenly became a signature policy of the governor of Colorado. This was a big deal in the mental health community, and it caught the attention of a mental health care executive in Arizona named David Covington. Later, he told a Denver judge why he submitted a bid for the $40 million-plus contract to run the state's crisis program.

DAVID COVINGTON: We thought this is where the country is going. This is what people will be looking at. So we wanted to bring the A team to that.

MARKUS: Colorado's existing mental health centers also submitted a bid. It's the upstart versus⁹ the status quo. And Covington won.

COVINGTON: I was looking at houses to move here, looking at schools, beginning to craft out how we would engage employees.

MARKUS: But he soon gets distressing¹⁰ news. Covington is told that his bid is under investigation¹¹ by state authorities. The bid was invalidated on a technicality, apparently¹² at the behest of Colorado's politically powerful mental health providers. So Covington sues Colorado. The judge sides with him, saying in court that the state had no good reason to cancel Covington's bid.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED JUDGE: It just defies reason, and it does suggest a manufactured reason to cancel.

MARKUS: As a result, the state's existing mental health centers cut a confidential¹³ deal with Covington to get him to leave the state. It doesn't allow either party to comment. Former Governor Hickenlooper, now a U.S. senator, didn't respond to a request for comment. Habgood, the state staffer in charge of the reforms, left his job not long after. This should have been the pinnacle¹⁴ of his career, a chance to build something out of a mass shooting that might prevent another.

HABGOOD: And then all of a sudden, it comes to a crashing halt because - there's winners and losers, and the losers were going to make sure that they were not the losers.

MARKUS: A potent¹⁵ example of how difficult even bipartisan reforms are. Now, 10 years after the Aurora theater shooting, Colorado still has one of the worst rates of access to mental health care in the U.S.

For NPR News, I'm Ben Markus in Denver.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

3 highland   

n.(pl.)高地，山地

参考例句：

• The highland game is part of Scotland's cultural heritage.苏格兰高地游戏是苏格兰文化遗产的一部分。
• The highland forests where few hunters venture have long been the bear's sanctuary.这片只有少数猎人涉险的高山森林，一直都是黑熊的避难所。

4 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

9 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

10 distressing   

a.使人痛苦的

参考例句：

• All who saw the distressing scene revolted against it. 所有看到这种悲惨景象的人都对此感到难过。
• It is distressing to see food being wasted like this. 这样浪费粮食令人痛心。

11 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

12 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

13 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

14 pinnacle   

n.尖塔，尖顶，山峰；(喻)顶峰

参考例句：

• Now he is at the very pinnacle of his career.现在他正值事业中的顶峰时期。
• It represents the pinnacle of intellectual capability.它代表了智能的顶峰。

15 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。