Lisa Hampton, chair of the Los Alamos County Health Council, told County Council on Oct. 21 that the council is carrying out a state-funded work plan focused on older-adult health, youth and family services, suicide prevention and behavioral-health coordination.

The Health Council’s work is supported by a fiscal‑year 2026 agreement with the New Mexico Department of Health that the council said is for $67,995, with an additional $40,000 available if certain optional initiatives are undertaken. The council described three main county initiatives: community outreach tied to the comprehensive health plan, involvement in the new regional behavioral‑health planning required under Senate Bill 3, and continued use of a closed‑loop referral platform called UniteUs to track referrals and services.

Why it matters: County officials and health‑service providers said behavioral health, suicide prevention and crisis response have been priorities in recent planning and that new state funding and regional planning under SB3 are creating near‑term opportunities — and new implementation questions — for Los Alamos.

Hampton and Jessica Strong, the county’s social‑services manager, summarized current and planned work. Social Services is using UniteUs to coordinate referrals and is expanding peer‑support options; attempts to procure a peer‑support specialist through a court‑led RFP produced no responses and staff said they remain “regrouping” on alternative approaches. Strong said the county is expanding outreach and homeless‑services work, and that when a program specialist hire is finalized the department will be staffed with six full‑time equivalents and one part‑time casual employee.

The Health Council highlighted several ongoing actions: initial meetings with police and first responders to scope a crisis‑response model; data collection exercises (including pulling dispatch data) to understand feasible responses in a small community; and development of a printed and online healthcare resource directory. The council described its work on a Community Health Action Center: a Health Council working group spent March through May defining requirements and recommended a set of actions in August, after public comment. The Health Council voted 9‑0 to approve the working group recommendations and turned the item over to county project managers and social services for site selection and architectural work.

Council members asked for more information about prior staffing levels and funding sources, and Strong said Social Services tracks its funding history and could provide before‑and‑after staffing and revenue figures. Strong also described relationships with regional housing authorities: the local Section 8 coordinator position had been vacant and recently coverage was restored from a Rio Rancho office, which staff said complicates direct in‑county assistance. Transportation barriers — for example getting clients to detox services or regional appointments — were repeatedly noted by staff as a continuing challenge.

Strong also described partnerships with local nonprofits serving people experiencing homelessness (LA Cares and Self Help) and the courts’ effort to use opioid funds to launch peer‑support work; the RFP that drew no proposals will be reconsidered. On regional behavioral‑health planning, Hampton said the first step under SB3 is a letter of intent and a $60,000 planning allocation for each judicial district; she said those plans may eventually position districts to apply for larger implementation grants the state has described as available to regions.

The Health Council and Social Services said more details and documents (including the Health Action Center working group report and a draft action plan) are available on request from Social Services. The council accepted questions and public comment and the Health Council presenters left the meeting after the briefing.

The Health Council’s approved recommendation will now move into project‑management and county staff review, including architectural and site‑selection steps for the proposed Health Action Center.