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Region 9 officials outline behavioral health priorities and confirm $2 million initial award
Summary
Regional leaders and UNM consultants reviewed the eSIM mapping priorities — crisis services, housing, workforce, youth prevention and acute care — and Christian Price confirmed the region was awarded the $2,000,000 it requested, with a funding formula projecting roughly $6.6 million for the region over time.
Chairman Bender convened regional elected leaders and service providers to review priorities from the enhanced Sequential Intercept Mapping (eSIM) process and next steps for the region’s behavioral health plan. Deb Alchell, a psychologist with the University of New Mexico Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, summarized the eSIM process and the five priorities the region identified: acute and higher‑level care, crisis services and mobile crisis teams, housing and homeless services, community‑based programs and workforce development, and youth prevention and mentorship.
Alchell said the eSIM is required under recent state legislation and is intended to shift behavioral‑health planning and funding to regional decision‑making. “We’re hoping that this will is not just to seed new programming. But also to sustain programming,” she said, describing the SB3‑linked investment trust and the role of the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Health Care Authority in overseeing plans and performance measures.
During questions, Christian Price, who coordinates the region’s submission, confirmed the region’s initial application for implementation funds. “We submitted for $2,000,000, and we have gotten confirmation that we were awarded what we asked for,” Price said, adding that the award paperwork with a dollar figure had not yet been attached but that he assumed the full $2 million was approved.
Price outlined the proposed allocation of the $2 million: roughly $120,000 for a regional behavioral health administrator position, $500,000 for medication‑assisted treatment (MAT) split between the two county detention centers, $200,000 for reentry services, funds for Crisis Triage Center operations and travel support, $50,000 for teen court treatment, and plan/design funds earmarked for a youth phase of the Crisis Triage Center. Price said the region’s funding formula indicates Region 9 could receive about $6.6 million under the program in future distributions.
Sarah Ko of Envive Solutions, the contractor selected to draft the regional behavioral health plan, said her team will deliver a draft to local leaders by April 15 so counties can review and finalize a submission to the Administrative Office of the Courts by June 30. Ko said the consultant team will also help design quarterly reporting requirements and a four‑year implementation map tied to SB3 funding.
Why it matters: The region’s plan will function as both the implementation roadmap and the application for multi‑year SB3 funds. Officials stressed the need to prioritize sustainable, billable services (e.g., Medicaid‑reimbursable peer supports, MAT) and to coordinate across counties so scarce funds address the most immediate operational gaps.
Next steps: The consultant will distribute a draft plan for review; Region 9 leaders will hold quarterly stakeholder meetings (the next scheduled for June 3) to finalize priorities, and county and city leaders will decide regional allocations and governance through a stakeholder committee.
