SANTA FE, N.M. – State lawmakers are starting to tackle some of the most controversial issues of this session, and that includes behavioral health.
It’s arguably the number one priority for Democrats, Republicans and the governor this year. But fixing New Mexico’s broken system is, as you can probably imagine, easier said than done.
The issues with New Mexico’s broken behavioral health system are not new. Legislative leaders say the system was dismantled over 10 years ago, and it’s taken that long to develop a strategy to rebuild the system, or at least for them to seriously address the issue.
Legislative analysts met with the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday, once again revealing millions of dollars already invested in behavioral health resources have not been spent.
They also reminded lawmakers the state division currently in charge of coordinating all the state resources has not had a leader in over a year.
We also got an update on the state’s current behavioral health capacity.
“Right now, the state as a whole — and Eric correct if I’m wrong — has about 520 beds that are located in different parts of the state. Some are used, some are not, right? But there’s still gaps in terms of facilities and beds for individuals to receive inpatient type treatment,” said Adrian Avila, a New Mexico State Legislature principal financial analyst.
The good news is a three-pronged solution to New Mexico’s behavioral health crisis is moving forward in the Roundhouse. It’s a trio of bills (Senate Bill 1, Senate Bill 2, and Senate Bill 3) establishing new, regional behavioral districts, investing $140 million into expanding resources, and creating a new state trust fund to make sure the new system is resilient.
Legislative analysts revealed Tuesday at least 17 state agencies and local governments all carry some behavioral health responsibilities, suggesting there are a lot of cracks for patients to fall through.
The behavioral health reform package we just told you about is working to streamline all of that, while also shifting the conversation out of Santa Fe and into local communities.
“Up until now, every patient and behavioral health has a top-down approach. State agencies top down, telling providers what to do, telling communities, ‘Oh, this is what you’re going to do, because it’s the one thing we got funded for from the Legislature, and that’s the only thing,’ right? We’re taking the inverse of that. So now we’re looking at the bottom up, what does the community need? What do the service providers, patients, the advocates, the people that boots on the ground, what have they identified as a critical needs within every region?” said Avila.
It’s clear state lawmakers are making sure they cross their T’s and dot their I’s on these behavioral health reform plans after learning a good chunk of the money they already invested in expanding resources was left untouched.
Senate finance leaders suggested they’ll want some more presentations on these plans before they take a crack on those three bills in the coming weeks.
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