ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – 2025 is shaping up to be a transformative year for behavioral health in New Mexico. Not only are New Mexico state lawmakers promising to make serious investments in the system, but new community clinics are now accepting patients in several cities. 

It sounds like more are coming and that’s the goal according to officials with New Mexico’s Health Care Authority. Five new behavioral health clinics are now open, all operating under the agency’s new community behavioral health clinic program.

The idea is to relocate all sorts of mental health and addiction treatment services under one roof, making it easier for New Mexicans to get help when they need it most.

“We can’t just criminalize behavior. There are certain times where folks need that additional support, and we need to kind of give them those resources for treatment,” said Nick Boukas, a Behavioral Health Services director with New Mexico Health Care Authority. 

New Mexicans in Bernalillo County can now find that extra support inside a community behavioral health clinic nestled within the UNM Hospital campus. It’s a 16-room facility offering a full menu of behavioral health treatments for anyone who needs them.

“You can walk up regardless of your ability to pay. It’s open to everyone, and they will work with you and get you the services that you need,” said Boukas. 

The UNM facility is one of five new community behavioral health clinics now open across the state. There are similar facilities in Carlsbad, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, and Farmington.

“Whether it’s for your child, whether it’s for your parent, whether it’s for yourself, and you need treatment for substance use, you need treatment for a behavioral health issue, or if you’re a veteran, you can go to that one place, and you’re going to get the resources that you need looking in one place, as opposed to having to go through the phone book and trying to figure out, how do I get this,” Boukas said. 

New Mexico is one of 10 states to receive federal money to implement the community behavioral health clinic model. 

Boukas says his department is already looking to expand this model to other New Mexico communities.

“We’re seeing other providers that are interested in doing this, because they realize that this is a program that not only do we believe in, but it’s also going to benefit them and the communities that they serve,” said Boukas. 

Rebuilding New Mexico’s behavioral health system one clinic at a time.

“When we talk rebuilding, it’s a little bit of everything. We need to modernize the system. We need support for infrastructure, but we also need staffing to go into that,” Boukas said. “But then also in looking at the programs and saying what needs to be updated, what needs to be added, and how do we do that in a way so that we’re not going to overburden the system, but also make sure that the services that they’re getting are what people need.” 

Rebuilding New Mexico’s behavioral health system is a major goal for New Mexico’s state lawmakers this year.

Legislative leaders confirmed there are significant investments already built into their state budget proposal.

“There is a very strong start and down payment when it comes to behavioral health, over $200 million addressing everything from behavioral health care professionals to housing to the linkages and many other components,” said state Rep. Nathan Small. 

Legislative leaders say they’re assembling a package of behavioral health bills, and we’ll hopefully get a closer look at those proposals in the coming days.

New Mexico’s Legislative Finance Committee on Wednesday recommended $10.8 billion in spending for the 2025-2026 fiscal year from the state’s general fund, a 5.7% increase over 2025 planned spending.

In a statement, Sen. George Muñoz (D-Gallup), LFC chairman and chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said “fiscal restraint has been critical to our successful efforts to transform the revenue boom of the last few years into long-term support for state services.” He continued to say the lawmaker’s intended budget recommendation balances increasing New Mexican’s income, health care and quality of life while saving for the future.

Democratic lawmakers held a news conference Wednesday to present their recommendations, which include $3 billion in one-time spending: $50 million for regional recreation centers and quality of life grants; $350 million for transportation projects; $855 million for special projects and $1.7 billion in transfers to endowments and other funds.

The budget also allocates 45% of the $577 million increase in recurring general fund spending to public education, primarily toward the formula-based state equalization guarantee distribution to school districts and charter schools.

Other budget highlights include:

• a 3% increase, or $36 million to the Higher Education Department

• approximately $79 million more to the Health Care Authority, primarily for Medicaid

• an average 4% increase for higher education and state employee salaries— $134 million.

“New Mexico is in the best financial situation it’s ever been in its history,” Muñoz told reporters Wednesday. “If we do maintain responsible policies in New Mexico, we’ll continue on this path to growth for the next 10 years.”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s budget recommendations, which she released in December, call for $10.9 billion in recurring spending overall, including $172 million for state employee and educator raises.

Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) said the Legislature’s budget proposal is “not that far apart” from the governor’s proposed budget, “and that’s a really good thing going into a session.”

The committee’s plan allocates 33% of planned spending for reserves; the governor’s recommends maintaining reserves at 30.4%.

In a statement, Department of Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary Wayne Propst said the agency released the executive budget recommendation “earlier than ever to give both the public and the Legislature ample time to review and understand our plan before the LFC presented theirs.”

“We appreciate the effort that went into the LFC recommendation and agree that both recommendations align on key priorities and are very close to each other.  Where differences exist, we look forward to working through them with the appropriating committees,” Propst said. “We’ve been proactive in building strong reserves and setting aside billions for the future. These next 60 days will test our collective resolve to resist unnecessary spending and stay focused on building a strong and stable financial future for New Mexico.”

Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Mimi Stewart (D-Albuquerque) also noted the budget includes a community benefit fund for electrification, transportation and clean jobs infrastructure designed to help local communities lower greenhouse gas emissions, and have healthier air, land and water.

Overall, House Appropriations and Finance Committee Chair Rep. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces) said the budget focuses on making New Mexicans’ lives better immediately and in the next decade and beyond.

Wise spending in this budget will allow for sustained future raises for public servants like teachers, police officers, health care workers and others, Small said, “whereas in past cycles, it was a boom-and-bust approach.”

“We have an enviable opportunity in order to spend increased amounts today, while also saving for the future,” he said.

A new database launching today gives the public, journalists and policymakers greater insight into police officers in New Mexico who lose their jobs with one agency, sometimes for serious misconduct, and then find work at another.

The New Mexico Department of Public Safety in July 2024 launched its own disciplinary database lookup tool, but it only covers officers who have been sanctioned by the state.

The National Police Index complements that database, and provides more data.

A coalition of journalistic, legal and human rights organizations led by Chicago-based nonprofit Invisible Institute created the database, using officer employment history records from 26 states, including New Mexico.

The NPI’s data on New Mexico cops go back as far as the 1960s, according to information released by Invisible Institute Director of Technology Maheen Khan.

The data include 5,185 currently active officers in New Mexico. Of those, 811 have had more than three employers, 150 have had more than five employers and 252 were previously terminated, Khan said in a statement.

The number of previously terminated officers is only as accurate as local police departments reports turned into DPS, so it’s almost certainly an undercount, according to Khan.

The first systematic investigation of “wandering officers” was published in 2020. Since then, New Mexico lawmakers and law enforcement officials have twice called for DPS to “track” problem officers.

While the NPI does not contain reports of misconduct, it does track officers over their careers and shows the reported reasons for their separation from an agency.

New Mexico’s database followed the creation of the New Mexico Law Enforcement Certification Board in 2023, which oversees the agency responsible for investigating police misconduct, called the Law Enforcement Certification Office.

The LECB replaced an agency heavily criticized for allowing officers to jump around to different jobs with little transparency.

New Mexico’s decertification process relies on local agencies fully and adequately investigating and reporting misconduct up to the LECB.

But journalists from around the state have shown this is often not the case, and a court ruling three years ago blocked public and press access to even more misconduct records.

If a case reaches the LECB, then its members can control whether an officer can hop to another department, said Bobbie Green, the longest-serving citizen-at-large on the board.

Green, who is also president of the Doña Ana County NAACP and second vice president of the New Mexico NAACP, said as a person of color, she tries to limit her interactions with police.

“Most of my family members — most Black people that I know — we are afraid of interactions with the police for obvious reasons. So from that perspective, I’m happy that there is going to be such a database,” she said.

However, Green said it’s difficult because while the public is at risk, officers also have rights, as well. The LECB must follow the rules and regulations, or risk being taken to court. They can’t act on a case that doesn’t get in front of them, she said.

“If the case never reaches us, that is, in my opinion, the loophole,” she said. “If they retire or leave before we get the case, then there’s nothing we can do about officers hopping from one place to another.”

Joshua Calder, the LECB’s first-ever CEO, said in an interview that officers who resign in lieu of termination could be trying to escape accountability; however, state regulation is clear that’s not a way to circumvent the misconduct reporting process. Since Source’s interview with Calder for this story, an email documenting his concerns about the LECB’s independence became public.

“I know that in reality, that may not be the case, and certain administrators may be leveraging — ‘Hey, we won’t file,’ or something — but they’re still required to provide that information to us if it violates New Mexico administrative code or statute,” Calder said.

Daniel Williams, a policing policy advocate at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, which helped craft the legislation that led to the LECB’s creation, said in an interview the ACLU advocated for a much more expansive state database when the legislation was up for debate.

“Having this database is better than nothing by a long shot,” Williams said. “This is one of the conversations we look forward to continuing to have with lawmakers about the need for transparency, in terms of law enforcement misconduct.”

All New Mexicans want to live in safe communities, and most see police as part of that, Williams said.

“They want to be able to trust in the cops who are going to pull them over when they’ve done something wrong, or going to come help them when something has been done to them,” he said. “Transparency is an essential part of that. We think everyone, including law enforcement, acknowledges that that trust has really broken down over the years.”