Bernalillo County rolls out Behavioral Health Authority structure and care-campus expansions; ordinance implementation begins

Lede: Bernalillo County leaders presented a multi-part plan on April 10 to implement the recently adopted Behavioral Health Authority ordinance and to expand the countyCare Campus services. County officials said the FY26 proposal relies primarily on the countybehavioral-health portion of the gross receipts tax, supplemental opioid settlement funds and partner contracts to scale crisis services, detox beds and outpatient recovery supports.

Nut graf: County officials described three new organizational components: a Department of Operational Supports to manage contracts (including the UNM Hospital crisis center start-up contract), a Department of Integrated Services to build a county-managed continuum of care, and a Department of Behavioral Health Services to operate the Care Campus. Deputies said the county will use an Administrative Services Organization (ASO) structure to coordinate provider networks and to pursue Medicaid billing and grant leverage over time.

Body: The county presented a FY26 operational ask for the behavioral-health division that included approximately $19.4 million in operational supports (behavioral-health GRT) covering contracts such as UNM Hospitalsupport for a crisis stabilization/start-up and roughly $16.9 million in opioid settlement funds administered through a work plan. County staff also asked to create initial staffing in the integrated services unit (five positions in year one) to begin building clinical supports, a recovery services office and intervention teams; the county said ongoing staffing and program scale-up would be phased in with subsequent budgets and grant/match strategies.

Presenters said key near-term initiatives include: expanding detoxification and observation/assessment capacity on the Care Campus (moving some detox services from social-model to clinically managed models), standing up data and monitoring infrastructure, piloting mobile school-based health units and strengthening diversion and reentry partnerships with courts and corrections. Staff emphasized an aim to bill Medicaid where appropriate but noted state and federal policy change could alter the revenue model.

Ending: County leaders said a portion of the opioid settlement funds will be deployed in FY26 and that commissioners will receive periodic implementation reports, as required by the ordinance. The ordinance also requires annual reporting to the commission on contracts, staff vacancies and performance metrics.