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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Sanchez, M.

DATE TYPED 2-28-05

HB

SHORT TITLE Valencia County Substance Abuse Hotline

SB 1030

ANALYST Collard

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

$1,000.0

Recurring General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC)

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 1030 appropriates $1 million from the general fund to DOH for the purpose of devel-

oping a hotline in Valencia county to provide information, resources and referrals regarding sub-

stance abuse by children under 21 years of age who are at risk of entering the juvenile or adult

correctional systems and to contract with a provider to develop and implement a program in Va-

lencia county to provide a continuum of care that includes inpatient and/or intensive outpatient

treatment for children under twenty-one years of age with substance abuse problems.

Significant Issues

DOH indicates several incidents in Valencia county have moved concern for youth substance

abuse to the forefront of the community health agenda. Valencia county experienced three fatal

motor vehicle crashes in quick succession at the end of the 2001-2002 school year that involved

teen drivers. Although one of the crashes, in which two young people were killed, reportedly did

not involve alcohol, alcohol was believed to be a factor in the other two fatal crashes.

Senate Bill 1030 -- Page 2

It is believed that gang activity and membership have increased, with concomitant increases in

vandalism and violent gang behavior. Though property offenses have decreased, juvenile of-

fenses against persons have increased. The number of juvenile offenses related to substance

abuse in Valencia County has almost tripled from 1993 to 2001.

In the Valencia Community Partnership County Health Profile, adolescent substance abuse was

identified as the top priority when county level data was examined in the context of maternal and

infant health, child health, adolescent health, injury, crime, chronic disease, mortality and access

to health care.

NMCD indicates this bill could be beneficial, if it results in fewer individuals in Valencia county

between the ages of 18 and 21 being incarcerated or placed on probation or parole for substance

abuse related criminal convictions.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $1 million contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY06 shall revert to the gen-

eral fund.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

DOH indicates, with the Behavioral Health Collaborative procurement process plan for the sin-

gle state entity (SE) to manage all behavioral health care services, this bill offers an additional $1

million to be earmarked for Valencia county.

In order to contract with a local provider to develop and implement a Valencia county program

that would provide a continuum of care that includes inpatient or intensive outpatient treatment

for children under 21 years of age who have substance abuse problems, DOH would need to is-

sue a Request for Proposals consistent with the state procurement code.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

CYFD indicates the statewide 211 Information and Referral System, currently in development at

DDPC, will subsume the hotline function.

DOH indicates the New Mexico Traffic Safety Bureau reported that in 2001, 53 percent of teen-

age crash deaths in New Mexico involved alcohol. Valencia county ranked eighth in the state for

alcohol-involved teen drivers, ages 15 to 19, in fatal crashes in 2000, and ninth in the state for

alcohol-involved teen drivers in non-fatal crashes.

Data from the Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey show the following: in 2003, 79.4 percent of

Valencia County students surveyed have had a drink of alcohol and 55 percent are current drink-

ers; 33.7 percent of Valencia county students surveyed were current users of marijuana; 12.9

percent of Valencia county students surveyed are current users of cocaine; and 9.7 percent of Va-

lencia county students surveyed are current users of methamphetamines.

In 2003, the Office of New Mexico Vital Records and Health Statistics indicated Valencia

county ranked fifth (19.3) in the state for drug-related death rate.

Senate Bill 1030 -- Page 3

DOH notes, in proposing a Valencia County hotline, this bill supports the provision of a problem

identification and referral mechanism, one of six strategies recognized by the Center for Sub-

stance Abuse Prevention. A hotline strategy aims to identify those persons who have used to-

bacco, alcohol, and/or illicit drugs in an illegal and/or inappropriate manner, and to assess and

screen these persons in order to determine appropriate referral methods of intervention and

treatment.

DOH is currently working with other community agencies and state agencies in an effort to de-

velop a statewide nurse triage phone line. Combining a county-level hotline for information, re-

sources and referral about substance abuse could be a feasible modification to the statewide

nurse triage line, although the bill’s language does not specify whether coordination is planned.

This bill delineates two different programs, a hotline and an “inpatient or intensive outpatient

treatment” continuum of care, both addressing substance abuse issues among the same age group

of children under 21 years of age.

CYFD indicates it currently contracts with five agencies to provide out-patient crisis intervention

services, substance abuse assessments and/or out-patient counseling services to youth and their

families up to the age of 21, who are involved with or referred by Juvenile Probation and Parole

or Protective Services staff in Valencia county. The total amount funded by CYFD to provide

services for Bernalillo, Sandoval and Valencia counties is $2.1 million for FY05. There are cur-

rently no in-patient services located in Valencia county to address substance abuse issues for

children under the age of 21.

KBC/rs