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| SPONSOR: | Taylor, J.P. | DATE TYPED: | 01/28/99 | HB | 190 | ||
| SHORT TITLE: | Increase Mental Health Services | SB | |||||
| ANALYST: | Burkhart | ||||||
| Recurring
or Non-Rec |
Fund
Affected | ||||
| FY99 | FY2000 | FY99 | FY2000 | ||
| $ 750.0 | recurring | GF | |||
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates/Conflicts with/Companion to/Relates to
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Department of Health
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 190 appropriates 750.0 from the general fund to the Department of Health for the purpose of providing directly or contracting for increased mental health services in southern New Mexico, including in-patient services, a mobile crisis intervention team and additional crisis shelter beds.
Significant Issues
At the present time, the only resource available for seriously mentally ill persons is the Las Vegas Medical Center located in Las Vega. Placing crisis beds in the southern part of the state will alleviate the need to transport these individuals over two hundred miles, sometimes in restraints, and with individuals not trained to care for the ill person.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The fiscal administration of these monies will be handled by the Behavior Health Services division. In all probability, requests for proposals for the crisis intervention beds will be invited, and the department will enter into contracts for the provision of these services.
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
Administration of these monies is within the budgeted capacity of this department.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The provision of mental health services, and especially those that call for the location of patients in a community for short periods of time always provide opportunities for citizens to express their concerns about their safety and the safety of their children. Public input into the location of these beds should be invited and utilized in the decision making process when determining where and how many crisis beds will be required.
POSSIBLE QUESTIONS
1. Where is the best possible location for the crisis beds?
2. Are there licensing and certification issues to be resolved?
MV/njw