HOUSE MEMORIAL 64

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2014

INTRODUCED BY

Don L. Tripp

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING A STEERING COMMITTEE TO DEVELOP A SPECIFIC PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTING ITS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REALIZING CERTAIN AIMS OF THE CHILDREN'S CODE AND FOR ENSURING THAT ACCESS TO CHILDREN'S SERVICES IS UNIFORM ACROSS GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES.

     WHEREAS, the fiftieth legislature in its second session was concerned about juvenile delinquency, which increases threats to and costs of public safety; and

     WHEREAS, that legislature acknowledged that the Children's Code, which was enacted with the intention of applying equally to all children in the state, aims to provide for a continuum of prevention, diversion, early intervention and treatment services and to reduce the disproportionate representation of minority youths in the juvenile justice, family services and abuse and neglect systems; and 

     WHEREAS, the legislature recognized that services addressing juvenile delinquency were not accessible equally by youths in rural areas versus those in urban areas; and

     WHEREAS, to address its concerns, the legislature passed House Joint Memorial 21, which requested that the children, youth and families department convene a steering committee to study the issues of truancy, school suspensions, referrals to the juvenile justice system, statewide equality of access to juvenile services and rural youths' access to mental health and substance abuse services; and

     WHEREAS, the steering committee formed, made its findings and issued its recommendations to the legislative finance committee; and

     WHEREAS, the steering committee found that:

          A. the aim of the Children's Code was not being met, in that access to relevant services is neither guaranteed nor equal across geographic boundaries;

          B. school-related issues, like academic failure, truancy and suspension, often automatically result in arrest and referral to the juvenile justice system;

          C. diversion programs and early intervention, especially in the schools, increase public safety while holding children accountable for their actions; and

          D. tribes need support in handling new juvenile justice issues and in implementing specific provisions of the Children's Code; and

     WHEREAS, the steering committee recommended that:

          A. schools, to promote safe and supportive learning environments, exercise alternatives to suspension, expulsion and referral to law enforcement agencies;

          B. the legislature attempt to standardize guidelines for responding to misbehavior, curtail the use of school zero-tolerance policies and impose minimum training and certification requirements for school resource officers;

          C. every youth be screened as early as possible for risk factors related to mental, emotional and behavioral disorders, that school-based health centers participate in screening and that state youth services agencies partner with local juvenile justice boards to develop an intake screening process for first-time offenders who exhibit high behavioral health needs;

          D. more community-based supervision alternatives that focus on improving behavioral health be available to children's court judges in responding to juvenile delinquency and that county and city administrators collaborate with behavioral health services providers, juvenile justice boards and OptumHealth New Mexico to develop those alternatives;

          E. the New Mexico gang task force's community-based programs receive more funding; 

          F. there be more training and resources for tribes to address juvenile delinquency issues and that the state and tribes enter into intergovernmental agreements that create a user-friendly process for families and youths to access behavioral health services and state programs; and

          G. the legislature support the reinstatement of appropriations to the family and youth resource fund and the juvenile continuum grant fund for the provision of cost- effective services, especially in rural areas; and

     WHEREAS, recent national tragedies resulting from violence in schools reinforce the need to increase safety and peaceful conduct in the schools;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the secretary of children, youth and families be requested to reconvene the steering committee created pursuant to House Joint Memorial 21 of the second session of the fiftieth legislature to develop a detailed plan to accomplish the goals of the Children's Code identified in this memorial and have those goals be met equally across the state; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the state youth services agencies be requested to partner with local juvenile justice boards, all medicaid managed care organizations and the statewide entity providing non-medicaid behavioral health services to develop an intake screening process for first-time offenders who exhibit high behavioral health needs; and be further requested to provide children's courts with community-based supervision alternatives that emphasize improving behavioral health; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, in order to provide cost-effective services, especially in rural areas, the legislature consider funding the New Mexico gang task force and reinstating appropriations to the family and youth resource fund and the juvenile continuum grant fund; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the steering committee be requested to develop a detailed plan for implementing its recommendations and report the plan to the appropriate interim legislative committees by December 1, 2014; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be transmitted to the children, youth and families department, the legislative council service, the administrative office of the courts, the New Mexico supreme court, the New Mexico attorney general, the public education department, the department of health, the human services department, the department of public safety, the New Mexico association of counties, the juvenile justice advisory committee, the interagency behavioral health purchasing collaborative, the behavioral health statewide entity, the medicaid managed care organizations, the New Mexico district attorney's association and the public defender department.

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