What can Albuquerque learn from Miami? A delegation of New Mexico state leaders is heading to Miami this week to tour the state’s first facility focused solely on behavioral health.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — What can Albuquerque learn from Miami? A group of New Mexico leaders is heading to Miami this week to tour the state’s first facility focused on behavioral health.
This is the third group from New Mexico to take the trip, and they’re hoping to bring back substantive ideas. The trip this week takes on even more significance as leaders consider the governor’s agenda for the next special legislative session.
The governor’s special session agenda includes five main items, with some leaders saying the most complicated part concerns mental competency. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants the Legislature to change the law to make it substantially easier for courts to mandate mental health treatment for certain suspects.
Some lawmakers are already weighing enforcement concerns if the bill passes, and a trip to Miami is a case in point.
The group of 20 people heading to Miami this week includes one Albuquerque congressman and many community leaders from southern New Mexico. The Miami facility will help people with severe mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders who cycle through the criminal justice system.
The goal is to learn from already successful models how to approach building behavioral health facilities, staffing and sustainability.
“Looking at the big picture, moving in this direction is a win for everyone,” said Republican Rep. Jennifer Jones. “This is just a small piece of what we need for our mental health and behavioral health infrastructure here in New Mexico, but it’s a big piece that affects everyone.”
Jones said the keys to success are better communication and using state resources more effectively.
The trip to Miami is planned for later this week ahead of a special session on July 18.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham released the following statement on the issue:
“Republicans will claim it’s ‘impossible’ to make New Mexico a safer place during this special session based on my proposals, but I categorically deny this assertion. It will only be ‘impossible’ if lawmakers refuse to roll up their sleeves and work with me to make it happen.”
State legislators of both parties must ask themselves whether they are content to allow crime and homelessness to increase just because business owners and ordinary New Mexicans are fed up with it. We can make our state safer, but it will take hard work, determination and a collaborative approach. I ask your colleagues to work with us to pass commonsense public safety reforms for New Mexico residents during this special session.”
