A 2025 budget proposal aims to revive a division of state government aimed at providing community-based and caregiver-based services to New Mexicans who fall just outside of Medicaid eligibility.

In the Aging and Long-Term Services Department’s roughly $5.7 million budget request for next year, $1 million is intended to staff its Long-Term Care Division, which has been inactive.

According to an Aging and Long-Term Services Department spokesperson, the Long-Term Care Division became inactive after the Medicaid waiver programs, which it used to manage, were moved to the state’s Department of Health. The programs – which include living care arrangements, disability assistance and other services – were moved again recently under the Health Care Authority.

Joey Long, public information officer for the department, said they did not have specific dates for the division’s dormancy.

In a presentation to lawmakers during a recent Legislative Finance Committee meeting, Aging and Long-Term Services Department Secretary-designee Emily Kaltenbach said the department also anticipates moving Adult Protective Services – including eight care transition specialists, the Veterans Service Program and New MexiCare program  – under the Long-Term Care Division. The Alzheimer’s and Dementia program would also be housed within the division.

New MexiCare in particular has a goal of offering training and financial help to caregivers, who in turn help older New Mexicans age in place rather than in a nursing home. The program is offered in all counties except Bernalillo and Doña Ana, but Long said the department wants to open the program fully statewide by July 2025.

“This will allow us to really create a continuum of care from prevention to intervention to long-term care services and supports,” Kaltenbach said.”That would make us whole.”

The rest of the department’s budget request includes funding for five full-time ombudsman, Aging and Disability Resource Center staff, contractual services to support the call center and support for the department’s volunteer program. 

Kaltenbach said the call center receives about 200 calls per day and had an additional 6,000 calls come in between Fiscal Year 2023 and 2024.

“The call center is really the entry point into our department,” Kaltenbach said.

The remaining funds are for special budget requests including emergency preparedness, marketing, information technology updates and the Kiki Saavedra Senior Dignity Fund. The honorary fund provides such services as transportation, access to food, physical and behavioral health services and case management.

The department’s roughly $5.7 million budget request is an 8% increase from the previous year. Kaltenbach pointed out that the department’s request is in keeping with the growing aging population in New Mexico, which is projected to have the fourth highest percentage of older adults among the states by 2030.

“I think it’s really interesting to see and not surprising that the highest percentage of older adults are living in our most rural and frontier counties,” Kaltenbach said. “We have more work to do and our budget reflects this need. 2030 is only five years away.”

CLOVIS, N.M. (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine what caused a mechanical failure that resulted in 20 workers inhaling toxic fumes at a cheese manufacturing plant in eastern New Mexico.

The Curry County Sheriff’s Office reported that more than a dozen workers were transported to area hospitals by ambulances and private vehicles Monday morning after acid mixed with chlorine to create the fumes. Two of the workers were listed in critical condition.

Crews responded after a strong smell was reported at the Southwest Cheese plant. A hazardous materials crew with the Clovis Fire Department helped to clear the scene and production resumed later that morning.

Southwest Cheese said in a statement issued Monday that early investigation indicated the cause of the incident was a chemical overflow that occurred due to a mechanical failure in one room at the plant and that the vapors affected employees who were working close by.

The company said the affected area was quickly closed off per its incident response plan.

Southwest Cheese has been operating since 2005. It processes billions of pounds of milk every year, producing more than 588 million pounds (266,712 metric tons) of block cheese and more than 36 million pounds (16,329 metric tons) of whey protein powders.