New Mexico courts appoint mental health reform experts

Yahoo

5 days ago

(Photos courtesy of the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts)
New Mexico's courts have filled the last three open seats on the panel responsible for implementing newly enacted reforms to the state's behavioral health care system.
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) Director Karl Reifsteck on Monday appointed three people to work on the Behavioral Health Executive Committee, which is expected to meet for the first time later this month.
New Mexico this year enacted Senate Bill 3, which replaced the old Behavioral Health Collaborative with the new Behavioral Health Executive Committee, which will be responsible for reviewing and approving regional plans for delivering behavioral health services and overseeing the implementation and funding of those plans, according to an AOC news release.
Reifsteck appointed three people to the panel: Dr. Stacey Cox, of Silver City, chief executive officer of the Center for Health Innovation-New Mexico Public Health Institute; Dr. Violette Cloud, of Albuquerque, senior project associate with Policy Research Associates, Inc.; and former Democratic state Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, of Albuquerque.
'Each of these individuals bring years of experience and valuable knowledge to the task ahead of improving how New Mexico responds to people struggling with behavioral health issues,' Reifsteck said in a statement.
Ortiz y Pino, in a statement, said he's been working with 'a great many others in the state to slow the steady stream of individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders brought before the courts who need help, not punishment.'
Ortiz y Pino described 'the success of treatment courts and diversion projects' currently underway as 'heartening,' and noted that now 'our challenge is to find ways and resources to ramp those efforts up to full scale and to explore moving from pilots to policies.'
The executive committee will also include Reifsteck, the Health Care Authority cabinet secretary; the Behavioral Health Services Division director; and the Medicaid program director.
'This initiative is the culmination of sustained efforts by state agencies, governing bodies and community partners, and its passage signals a shared commitment to move beyond fragmented approaches and toward a unified strategy that prioritizes access, accountability, and long-term impact,' Cloud, who is also member of the New Mexico Supreme Court's Commission on Mental Health and Competency, said in a statement.
The committee will hold meetings open to the public in Santa Fe and online every quarter, and report back to the LFC. Its first meeting will be held on June 24, AOC spokesperson Barry Massey told Source NM in an email.
'I am excited to bring the weight of my experience and enthusiasm to building behavioral health services and solutions to New Mexicans in a way that is strategic, measurable and meaningful to people's lives,' Cox said in a statement.
Last month, AOC named Esperanza Lucero as its first-ever behavioral health integration and reform administrator, the person tasked with implementing major parts of SB3.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX