A JOINT MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THAT THE HUMAN SERVICES
DEPARTMENT LEAD A TASK FORCE TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF A MEDICAID WAIVER
PROGRAM FOR PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS.
WHEREAS, many adults with
serious mental illness lack necessary support and services to live in their
communities and are at risk of grave neglect, homelessness or
institutionalization in hospitals or jails; and
WHEREAS, many children and
youth with serious mental illness lack adequate services that are
community-based and family-based and are at risk of suspension, expulsion or
dropping out of school, removal from their biological families to residential
treatment, acute hospitalization, therapeutic foster care, incarceration and
sometimes homelessness; and
WHEREAS, state-supported
services to low-income adults with mental illness who are not currently
eligible for medicaid are funded largely by the state general fund; and
WHEREAS, a medicaid waiver
could leverage federal dollars by making many such adults eligible for medicaid
services and enable the state to draw federal matching funds for these state
expenditures; and
WHEREAS, the state of New
Mexico has already demonstrated success and cost-effectiveness in serving
children and adults with other disabilities in home- and community-based
settings through the developmental disabilities medicaid waiver, the disabled
and elderly medicaid waiver, the medically fragile medicaid waiver and the
acquired immune deficiency syndrome medicaid waiver;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED
BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the human services
department be requested to lead a task force to study and make recommendations
for the development of a medicaid waiver program to serve persons with serious
mental illness in New Mexico; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the
task force include representation from the department of health, the children,
youth and families department, agencies and professionals providing services to
children or adults with serious mental illness, a statewide alliance for the
mentally ill, an organization of parents with behaviorally different children,
an organization for protection and advocacy of persons with disabilities, adult
consumers of mental health services and family members of adults, children or
youth with serious mental illness; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the
task force consider options for consumer and family self-directed services and
that the task force consider the option of a separate mental health waiver as
well as the option of including appropriate mental health services within a
broader waiver program; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the
task force, through the human services department, report its findings and
recommendations to the legislative finance committee and to the interim
legislative health and human services committee at their respective October
2003 meetings; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
copies of this memorial be transmitted to the secretaries of health, children,
youth and families and human services and to the chairs of the legislative
finance committee and the legislative health and human services committee.