SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL 35

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2009

INTRODUCED BY

Mary Kay Papen

A JOINT MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE NEW MEXICO BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COLLABORATIVE AND ITS MEMBER DEPARTMENTS TO STUDY THE NEEDS OF AND AVAILABLE RESOURCES FOR PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS IN CRISIS SITUATIONS AND TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE SERVICES, TREATMENT AND CARE OUTSIDE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND DETENTION IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS WHO ARE IN DETENTION FACILITIES OR REQUIRE LAW ENFORCEMENT INTERVENTION.

     WHEREAS, one of the greatest challenges facing law enforcement agencies and detention centers is how to respond to people who have mental health disorders; and

     WHEREAS, law enforcement agencies are the first-line responders to people with mental health disorders who are not receiving necessary treatment and care; and

     WHEREAS, current statute permits people with mental health disorders to be taken to detention facilities for protective custody regardless of whether they have committed criminal acts warranting arrest; and

     WHEREAS, many people with mental health disorders are held in detention facilities for misdemeanor charges due to a lack of available treatment or community support; and

     WHEREAS, the burden for addressing mental health issues in New Mexico communities has been left to counties where detention centers have become de facto mental health facilities; and

     WHEREAS, detention centers are ill-equipped to deal with this population; and

     WHEREAS, individuals with mental health disorders are not helped by incarceration; and

     WHEREAS, the current situation exposes the state and local government to substantial liability; and

     WHEREAS, individual agencies cannot provide the solution to this problem because it is a systemic problem that requires collaboration and development of strategies among federal, state, county and municipal government as well as health care providers and advocacy organizations;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico behavioral health collaborative, through the behavioral health planning council, be requested to convene stakeholders to develop humane and effective strategies to serve people with mental health disorders in order to reduce the number of people with mental health disorders that require law enforcement intervention and to reduce the number of people with mental health disorders in detention centers; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that stakeholders include but not be limited to representatives from the New Mexico association of counties; the New Mexico municipal league; the department of health; the human services department; the training and recruiting division of the department of public safety; the aging and long-term services department; the corrections department; the New Mexico behavioral health institute at Las Vegas; the New Mexico hospital association; the protection and advocacy system; federal, state and county law enforcement; and peer specialists that represent the local behavioral health collaboratives and their constituents and families; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Mexico behavioral health collaborative be requested to report its findings to the appropriate interim legislative committee by December 1, 2009; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the directors of the New Mexico association of counties and the New Mexico municipal league and to the secretaries of health, human services, aging and long-term services and children, youth and families.

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