Detention center capacity, costs and community schools funding top committee concerns

Bernalillo County and a coalition of community organizations told the Legislative Health & Human Services committee that the state faces two parallel needs: funding and staffing for regional detention capacity, and sustained investment in community‑based prevention and school‑centered supports to keep youth from entering the deep end of the justice system.

Tamara Marcantel, director of the Bernalillo County Youth Services Center, outlined facility data: the center has a 78‑bed design (66 male, 12 female, plus 5 intake beds), booked 401 youth in FY25 (about 20% from outside the county) and has seen its average daily population rise 46% since FY20 while average length of stay increased 107%. Marcantel said the county currently invests about $570 per day for each youth and that FY26 spending was set at about $13.9 million. She told the committee the facility’s vacancy rate for staff is about 33% and staff tenure is short: "75% of our staff have been with us less than a year and a half," she said, and the county is exploring adding a 12‑bed unit (estimated $11–12.5 million) if regionalization and capital support can be secured.

Representatives of community schools, youth service nonprofits and statewide collaboratives argued that prevention, school supports and community‑based programs produce measurable school and youth outcomes and should be funded on a multi‑year basis. Garfield STEM Magnet and Albuquerque Public Schools speakers described five years of restorative practices, student leadership programs and reductions in suspensions and chronic absenteeism. SWIFT asked for $500,000 to expand statewide technical assistance and credentialing for community‑school coordinators; community action agencies asked for approximately $4.5 million in HCA funding to support family enrollment and whole‑family supports; Boys & Girls Clubs and Communities & Schools highlighted after‑school and mentoring programs that serve thousands of children and requested access to out‑of‑school funding to offset federal cuts.

Student witnesses and youth council members gave personal testimony about the difference school‑based supports made in their lives, and urged lawmakers to sustain funding for counselors, peer support roles and school‑based substance use prevention staff. The committee did not take votes; members requested written budget details and said they would consider the requests during the appropriations process.