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LifeHouse reports services expansion after Eddy County opioid-settlement grant
Summary
LifeHouse (formerly Carlsbad Lighthouse) told Eddy County commissioners it is using opioid settlement funds to expand overdose response, a diversion/crisis receiving area and community education; the group reports serving about 500 clients a month and plans a remodel to open crisis receiving space later this year.
Eddy County commissioners heard an update May 27 on services funded by the county’s opioid-settlement award to Carlsbad Lighthouse, presented by county manager Mike Gallagher and Phil Houston, executive director of LifeHouse.
LifeHouse told the commission it is serving more than 500 clients a month for mental health and substance-use needs and is using settlement funds to support an overdose response program, a crisis-diversion/remodel project and community education and training.
The update explained why the work matters: the county’s award was intended to expand local behavioral-health supports so people who overdose or experience a behavioral crisis can be routed to treatment rather than jail or a hospital. "Our mission is to change the mental health and substance use outcomes here in our community by building a continuum of care for those type of services," Phil Houston, executive director at LifeHouse, said. "We're serving over 500 clients a month right now for various mental health and substance use needs here in our facilities in Eddy County."
Houston described several program elements supported by the settlement funds. An overdose response program deploys a community response team to follow up after nonfatal overdoses and offer services; LifeHouse said it has trained "virtually all the first responders in the county" on that follow-up process but has not yet seen wide community uptake. The grant will also underwrite a remodel to create a crisis receiving/diversion space — intended to let law enforcement or other first responders bring people for treatment instead of jail or emergency departments. "We're gonna start the remodel next month. Should only take a couple of months," Houston said, adding the work involves repurposing existing space rather than major construction.
LifeHouse also said the funding supports a full-time community-education position. Houston noted the hire has provided seven Mental Health First Aid courses and trained more than 65 county residents; the staffer has also been trained in youth Mental Health First Aid. He said the organization is producing print and digital education materials and continuing staff training to adopt promising new treatments.
Houston noted LifeHouse recently learned its RISE grant — a program providing peer-led groups and transition support in detention centers — was renewed; the renewal will support a full-time staff member assigned to work in the county detention center. He invited commissioners and county staff to a local behavioral-health summit the same day, and said LifeHouse will hold a ribbon cutting for its new Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) designation later in the day.
Commissioners thanked LifeHouse for the national recognition and for services expansion. No formal action was taken; the presentation was recorded as an informational update to the county about how opioid-settlement and related grant funds are being used.
LifeHouse and county staff provided timelines and enrollment figures but also noted uptake on some new services remains low so far; commissioners and staff asked for continued tracking of usage and outcomes.
