County frames behavioral-health reform, reentry support and alternative response as strategic priorities
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Commissioners pushed behavioral-health prevention, expanded reentry supports, and alternative response units in a regionally coordinated approach; staff described HRSA-funded peer supports in the detention facility, planned regional behavioral-health leadership councils, and next steps for an inclusive reentry plan due in December.
Behavioral-health reform, reentry services and alternative-response strategies were a major thread of the strategic-planning session as commissioners asked staff to align county programs with regionwide behavioral-health reform and to strengthen wraparound services for people leaving custody.
Community Services and detention facility staff described current programs and new partnerships: an HRSA grant supports two peer-support workers at the adult detention facility to link people leaving custody to community services, and Community Services staff reported partnerships with workforce solutions and community colleges to expand on-site job-placement and family-reunification programs. The nonprofit New Mexico Reentry was cited as a partner that has purchased housing stock and is dedicating beds to people leaving custody.
Commissioners asked for a comprehensive, all-inclusive reentry plan timed for December and recommended work to connect reentry to workforce development, training programs at Santa Fe Community College, and other locally available supports. Staff said the county is serving as the accountable entity for the Region 1 behavioral-health planning effort and has convened a behavioral-health leadership council across counties and tribes.
On alternative response and crisis intervention, staff described existing collaborations where behavioral-health professionals respond alongside dispatch to de-escalate calls and reduce law-enforcement time on behavioral-health incidents; commissioners noted Albuquerque and City-of-Santa-Fe models and discussed the potential to scale a county program or partner with existing provider agencies.
Commissioners also raised employee-focused behavioral-health supports for frontline staff (fire and law enforcement); chiefs and the sheriff’s office supported including employee behavioral-health provisions in the countywide strategic objectives so staff support and public-facing crisis response are both covered.
Next steps: staff will draft a comprehensive reentry plan by December, continue regional coordination on behavioral-health reform, and provide options for alternative-response units and workforce integration linked to the strategic plan.