LC3 meeting explores behavioral health solutions

Hundreds of people and dozens of agency partners attended the annual meeting of the LC3 Behavioral Health Collaborative Tuesday, Dec. 12, at a luncheon at Hotel Encanto.

LC3 works to close local gaps in services for area people with behavioral health needs. LC3 grew out of Families and Youth Innovations Plus (FYI+), whose mission is to “promote a safer and healthier community by focusing on family and children.” LC3 represents 184 key stakeholders in 70 different agencies.

Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, a special guest at the event, said LC3 can be held as a statewide model.

“I want you to know how grateful I am, and how grateful we are as a state, for the work you do,” Morales said.

He added that robust state revenues provide opportunities to address many statewide behavioral health concerns, but also present challenges.

“As a state, we must invest in more programs, more services,” Morales said. “But where do we choose to invest that? We want to provide services to make us healthier, but we need to find ways to invest that are sustainable. We’re not going to turn away from these big challenges.”

Two of the big challenges addressed at the annual meeting were supportive housing and access to behavioral health services.

Supportive housing

Supportive housing was defined by panelists as affordable and decent, but also inclusive of personal services that help residents stay safe and stable. Panelists were Josue Lachica of the Meadows Institute; Lisa Howley, supportive housing coordinator-supervisor with the behavioral health services division of the New Mexico Human Services Department; Gary Housepian, an attorney who is CEO of Disability Rights of New Mexico; and Al Galves, a psychologist on the board of the Community Service Corps of Las Cruces.

Galves talked about two proposed facilities to address specific housing needs.

The Los Amigos transitional housing would provide 32 beds geared toward people leaving incarceration or substance abuse programs, Galves said. Residents would be assisted by 12 peer support people, expect to commit to sobriety and pay rent. Once residents were ready to leave, rent payments would be reimbursed toward more permanent housing.

The Soteria House would be a residential treatment home for people with schizophrenia. It would provide safety and affirmation and allow 6-8 weeks or more for a resident to stabilize, Galves said. Recovery rates for schizophrenia have not improved since 1900, he added, hovering around 30 percent. However, programs upon which Soteria is modeled have seen recovery rates up to 60 percent, Galves said.

Howley cited two critical barriers to creating supportive housing. Differences in definitions at local, state and federal levels can complicate and delay funding. Also, Howley said, there is a 32,000-housing-unit shortage in New Mexico; and while rents have increased 70 percent since 2017, income has only increased 15 percent.

Housepian noted that unsafe housing is not just an issue for people living on the streets, but also for “individuals trapped in a domestic violence situation.”

Federal, state and local funds from the opioid settlement could help fund those projects, it was suggested.

 Access to care

Panelists addressing access to needed behavioral care were Paul Ford, Mobile Integrated Healthcare coordinator for the Las Cruces Fire Department; Jamie Michael, director of the Doña Ana County Health and Human Services Department; Enrique Mata, with the Meadows Institute, and former senior program officer with Paso del Norte Health Foundation in El Paso; and Amy Himelright, director of Academic Counseling and Behavioral Health for Las Cruces Public Schools.

Michael said accessing behavioral healthcare is “fuzzier” than shopping for, say, milk and bread.

“I know where to shop and get my milk and bread,” she said. “I don’t need behavioral healthcare often, but when I need it, I need it right now. But how do I find them?”

Even if clients know where to find care, they may not seek it.

“Behavioral health is very reactionary,” Ford said. “The people who need it most, don’t want it. So they present in hospitals and emergency rooms.”

And even if they want it and know where to find it, a provider may not be available.

“Behavioral health is not glamorous,” Ford said. “It is very hard work, and during Covid we lost a number of providers.”

Mata said technology and the growth of telehealth has created a new option. In many cases, people can get “more immediate, ‘keep-it-to-yourself’ care,” he said. But telehealth can’t address every situation.

“Not everyone has internet access, or even the privacy to be able to hop on a computer,” Himelright said.

And all agreed that paperwork, regulations and bureaucracy can often create barriers and delays to access.

Himelright said increased partnerships between needed agencies and the public schools has improved access to care for students. Michael touted the success of the national 988 line, designed to help prevent suicide. Mata talked about how much has improved overall with behavioral health care and associated stigmas, and about outreach to other regions of southern New Mexico, including Luna and Otero counties. Ford and the LCFD have worked hard at “getting the right people” to the right calls in the community, as not everyone can readily get to a clinic.

“People don’t live in clinics,” Ford said. “We need to meet them where they’re at.”

During closing remarks, outgoing LC3 board chair Tenika Sosa-Gonzalez evoked the collaborative’s early days, which were interrupted by Covid.

“LC3 just kept going,” she said. “And now we’re the flagship behavioral health collaborative in the state.”

FYI+’s Innovated Community Services project manager Rose Ann Vasquez mentioned the care and attention of the people involved in LC3, adding, “We’ve heard the word ‘love’ used a lot today.”

The first usage had come at the beginning of the meeting, when the lieutenant governor acknowledged the hard work of many people who had prepared ground for LC3. He encouraged listeners to recognize the hard work and added: “Never underestimate the power of love.”