The bipartisan legislative Joint Budget Committee fired dozens of questions toward the agency in a briefing Wednesday, seeking information on the state's inadequate system and what it would take to fix it.What to watch: The scrutiny facing the Polis administration's work on mental health and the problems in the current system is mounting. Polis requested $10 million in his budget proposal for behavioral health, according to legislative documents. The state is now seeking a person to lead the new administration and someone to fill Werthwein's position.Д¬ontext: A 2019 law created the new administration, which is expected to take final form by July 1.Moreover, the Polis administration is creating a new agency, the Behavioral Health Administration, that will shuffle the duties of the current office and better align mental health and drug abuse services.Both deputy behavioral health directors under Werthwein departed in the last two months for other positions.

The big picture: The leadership change comes at a point of significant turmoil and transition. He sent a statement to Axios on Wednesday evening, calling Werthwein 'a valued member of the administration whose expertise and personal struggle have informed the work of the behavioral mental health task force and our day-to-day work to serve our most vulnerable populations.'.Werthwein was not immediately available for an interview.Д¬onor Cahill, a spokesperson for Polis, didn't directly respond to questions about the resignation.'I am very proud of the work this team has done in partnership with all of you to improve the lives of Coloradans,' he wrote.What he's saying: Werthwein, a nine-year veteran of the Department of Human Services, did not address the controversy in his resignation letter, but defended his efforts. Jared Polis demanding wholesale changes to the state's mental health system, based in part on the investigation's findings. Just two hours before Werthwein announced his resignation, advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov.The public announcement came two days after an investigation by the Colorado News Collaborative found Colorado's community mental health centers are receiving noncompete contracts, over-billing the state and treating fewer clients during the pandemic despite a burgeoning need.Colorado's behavioral health leader is resigning amid intense scrutiny about massive gaps in the state's mental health safety net.Дriving the news: Robert Werthwein, the Polis administration's director of the Office of Behavioral Health, sent an email to employees and outside partners Tuesday saying he would step down at the end of February 2022 to seek a position outside the agency, according to an email obtained by Axios.

Mental turmoil