Colorado Moves to Connect Agricultural Workers With Mental Health Resources

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1 year ago

February 8, 2024

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If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988. Spanish-language services are also available.

Colorado lawmakers have proposed a pair of measures they say will improve the availability of mental health resources for the states agricultural industry, as stress, anxiety, and depression among ranchers and farmhands have emerged as critical issues that have worsened since the coronavirus pandemic. Use Our Content

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The bills under consideration would address a growing need to treat rural mental health issues that have only compounded with the effects of the pandemic and climate change all in a state that has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation. Mental health professionals are scarce in rural parts of Colorado, a significant gap considering suicide rates have been higher in rural America than in metropolitan areas for decades.

Legislators were slated to debate the measures on Feb 7. The first bill would create an agricultural and rural community behavioral health liaison position; that person would connect various state agencies with mental health care providers, nonprofits, and community leaders. The second bill is designed shore up and publicize suicide prevention resources for agricultural workers.

If youre two hours away from a health professional, and maybe in the winter in a snowstorm its a four- or five-hour drive, youre just not going to seek or get the help that you want and need, said state Sen. Perry Will, a Republican sponsoring the liaison bill. Anything we can do to increase access to behavioral health care in rural Colorado and in rural communities is a benefit.

The stresses of working in Colorados agricultural sector are amplified for migrant workers who face language barriers or cultural stigmas. The 2017 Census of Agriculture (updated 2022 data is scheduled to be released in mid-February) found about 8% of Colorados farms employ Hispanic or Spanish-speaking workers. In 2022, there were more than 19,000 farmworkers statewide.

When we talk about emotional needs, they feel a void. They dont know what to do because of this void they feel. But they feel that theres something wrong, said Ere Juarez, a regional director for the Project Protect Food Systems Workers who works closely with migrant families. The loneliness, the sadness, the guilt, its high super high. Email Sign-Up

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Migrant workers are routinely in Colorado for six to 10 months of the year to support relatives in their home countries. But they often face difficult conditions while in the U.S., Juarez said: working shifts of up to 16 hours a day, living with dozens of people inside small apartments, and having limited communication with family back home. In addition to the language barrier English presents, some workers dont even speak Spanish, Juarez added, frustrating those who try to communicate in regional Spanish dialects.

Juarez said those feelings sometimes manifest as alcohol abuse or suicidal thoughts. Behavioral health resources to help workers need to be built up, she said.

We all have food on our tables because they work for us, Juarez said. They are leaving their bodies in our fields in order to feed us.

Then there is the drop in income when winter and year-round workers might clock in only 10 to 20 hours per week, said Hunter Knapp, development director for Project Protect Food Systems Workers. Workers who stay here throughout the year face a lot of economic challenges and all the associated mental and behavioral health challenges that come with losing income and work.

Iriana Medina, community engagement coordinator at the nonprofit La Plaza, has identified similar issues. Her organization works with migrant and immigrant communities in Mesa County on Colorados Western Slope, a region known for its juicy and sweet Palisade peaches and regional wine. The diversity of having a person that has a different cultural and language background is a bridge that needs to be built, Medina said. Whatever these bills will take us to will actually be a piece of the puzzle toward benefiting the Hispanic community, she added.

State Sen. Tom Sullivan, a Democrat and gun violence prevention advocate whose son, Alex, was murdered in the 2012 Aurora movie theater massacre, sponsored the bill to combat suicide. Sullivan said he is concerned that a person is more likely to take their life in a rural district than in an urban one.

Im just trying to acknowledge that there are people struggling in these communities and let them know that there’s somebody out there who will actually listen and understand their problems when they call, Sullivan said.

KFF Health News ethnic media editor Paula Andalo contributed to this story.

If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988. Spanish-language services are also available. Related Topics Health Industry Rural Health States Colorado Latinos Contact Us Submit a Story Tip

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Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

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Donald Trump praises Liberian president’s English – the country’s official language

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Donald Trump praises Liberian president's English - the country's official language

Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.

The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.

After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”

Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.

The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.

“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”

Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.

The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.

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Mr Trump promised the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau a pivot from aid to trade at the surprise meeting.

He described the countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.

Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”

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Gaza permanent ceasefire ‘questionable’, says Israeli government

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42 mins ago

July 10, 2025

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Gaza permanent ceasefire 'questionable', says Israeli government

The Israeli government believes the chances of achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza are “questionable”.

The pessimistic assessment, in a top-level Israeli government briefing given to Sky News, comes as the Israeli Prime Minister prepares to leave Washington DC after a four-day visit which had begun with the expectation of a ceasefire announcement.

Benjamin Netanyahu will leave the US later today with the prospect of even a temporary 60-day ceasefire looking extremely unlikely this week.

Within “a week, two weeks – not a day” is how it was framed in the background briefing late on Wednesday.

Crucially, though, on the chances of the ceasefire lasting beyond 60 days, the framing from the briefing was even less optimistic: “We will begin negotiations on a permanent settlement. But we achieve it? It’s questionable, but Hamas will not be there.”

Sky News has spoken to several Israeli officials at the top level of the government. None will be drawn on any of the details of the negotiations over concerns that public disclosure could jeopardise their chances of success.

But I have been given a very clear understanding of Mr Netanyahu’s thinking.

The Israeli position is that a permanent ceasefire (beyond the initial 60 days, which itself is yet to be agreed) is only possible if Hamas lays down its arms. “If they don’t, we’ll proceed [with the war],” said a source.

The major sticking point in the talks between Hamas and Israel is the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

The latest Israeli proposal, passed to Hamas last week, included a map showing the proposed IDF presence inside Gaza during the ceasefire.

This was rejected by Hamas and by Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who reportedly told the Israelis that the redeployment map “looks like a Smotrich plan”, a reference to the extreme-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

My briefing of Mr Netanyahu’s position is that he has not shifted in terms of Israel’s central stated war aims. The return of the hostages and eliminating Hamas are the key objectives.

But in a hint of how hard it will be to reconcile the differences, it was clear from my briefing that no permanent ceasefire is possible in the Israeli government’s view without the complete removal of Hamas as a political and military entity.

Hamas is not likely to negotiate its way to oblivion.

On the status of the Israeli military inside Gaza, a senior Israeli official told Sky News: “We would want IDF in every square metre of Gaza, and then hand it over to someone.”

It was clear to me that Mr Netanyahu wants his stated position to be that his government has no territorial ambition for Gaza.

One quote to come from my briefing, which I am only able to attribute to a senior Israeli official, says: “[We] don’t want to govern Gaza… don’t want to govern, but the first thing is, you have to defeat Hamas.”

Another clear indication of Mr Netanyahu’s position – a quote from the briefing, attributable only to a senior Israeli official: “You cannot have victory if you don’t clear out all the fighting forces.

“You have to go into every square inch unless you are not serious about victory. I am. We are going to defeat them. Those who do not disarm will die. Those who disarm will have a life.”

On the future of Gaza, it’s clear from my briefings that Mr Netanyahu continues to rule out the possibility of a two-state solution “for the foreseeable future”.

The Israeli government assessment is that the Palestinians are not going to have a state “as long as they cling to that idea of destroying our state”.

On the most controversial aspect of the Gaza conflict – the movement of the population – the briefing revealed that Mr Netanyahu’s view is that 60% of Palestinians would “choose to leave” but that Israel would allow them to return once Hamas had been eliminated.

“It’s not forcible eviction, it’s not permanent eviction,” a senior Israeli official said.

Critics of Israel’s war in Gaza say that any removal of Palestinians from Gaza, even if given the appearance of being “voluntary”, is in fact anything but, because the strip has been so comprehensively flattened.

Reacting to Israeli Defence Minister Katz’s recent statement revealing a plan to move Palestinians into a “humanitarian city” in southern Gaza, and not let them out of that area, the official wouldn’t be drawn, except to say: “As a permanent arrangement? Of course not.”