Lea County discusses expanding Health & Wellness services amid local gaps in detox and mental‑health care

Lea County's Health & Wellness director gave commissioners a detailed presentation on Nov. 2 about the department's clinical services, case coordination and proposed program expansions aimed at addressing local gaps in behavioral health and social support.

Michael Navaros described the department's approach as integrated: mental‑health and substance‑use treatment, a Connections program that provides assessment and active referrals, and wellness education. He said the county initially added behavioral health services because many justice‑involved individuals had co‑occurring disorders and the county lacked a local detox facility: "The Me Time program is where we offer any type of services ... to county members," Navaros said, and emphasized evidence‑based curricula and a care‑coordinator role that actively schedules follow‑up rather than only providing referrals.

Commissioners pressed on how far county government should expand direct service provision versus supporting or contracting with local providers. Commissioner Kimbrell asked whether the county should be building facilities or instead help hospitals and nonprofit partners. Assistant County Manager Kelly Livingston explained the county's role as a coordinator and said the community wellness initiative began because there was ‘‘a detox, a lack of detox services in Lea County’’ that had led to people being taken to the county detention center when no appropriate medical facility was available.

Navaros outlined a timeline: treatment services began in 2011, behavioral health added in 2018, Connections launched in 2021, the Health & Wellness Department was established in 2022 and new initiatives (training and the Me Time program) rolled out in 2023–24. He also noted the county commissioned a wellness study (Majewski and Hartman Design Group) and said the final deliverables are pending; the study will inform which functions should be county‑run and which should be provided by community partners.

Commissioners and staff discussed possible next steps including expanding care coordination staff, continuing mental‑health training for public safety personnel, targeted outreach to Spanish‑speaking populations and exploring community response teams and inpatient withdrawal services in partnership with other agencies. No formal vote was required for the presentation; staff will return with study results and specific recommendations for program roles and funding.

Next steps: county staff will present the wellness study findings when available and seek direction on which services to continue in‑house and which should be routed to external providers.