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Controversial behavioral health law sparks strong responses from supporters and critics alike

A group of Bernalillo County behavioral health employees stand as Victoria Gurule gives public comment in opposition to an ordinance that passed the County Commission on a 3-2 vote Tuesday June 25.
Daniel Montaño
/
KUNM
A group of Bernalillo County behavioral health employees stand as Victoria Gurule gives public comment in opposition to an ordinance that passed the County Commission on a 3-2 vote Tuesday June 25.

The Bernalillo County Commission’s chambers were full of onlookers Tuesday night as the commission approved a controversial ordinance that creates a central authority for behavioral health.

People made impassioned comments on both sides of the debate.

During the public comment period, not a single Bernalillo County behavioral health employee supported the ordinance.

They complained that it wasn’t written with enough input from the people who do the work every single day.

Victoria Gurule is a certified peer support worker with the Comprehensive Assessment & Recovery through Excellence (CARE) Campus, the state’s only free detox. She spoke to KUNM outside after the vote.

“We voiced many concerns that weren't heard. We weren't involved in any working group in any portion of writing this. So it's extremely disappointing that it's still passed despite the showing here today,” Gurule said.

The group of more than a dozen county employees did take the opportunity to speak at length during the meeting’s public comment period.

“CARE campus staff have voiced their concerns pertaining to staff safety, job security and an ordinance that was written without our input, only to be devalued by a commissioner who clearly values control and ignored by two others,” Gurule said.

Each time a staff member spoke, they all stood up, side by side in opposition to the law. And they commented even though they were worried that they might lose their jobs.

“My name is Rosa Bias, I’d like to state that I am in fear of retaliation against me for my comments here today,” she said.

Bias had particularly strong words for Commissioner Adriann Barboa, who co-sponsored the law.

“She went on to tell staff, when she met with them privately at CARE campus, that if they did not care for the changes that they could find other employment,” Bias said, adding directly to Barboa “You did say that.”

Among the many fears voiced by staff, a common concern was safety. There will no longer be armed security at the facility.

Commissioner Barboa said the change will provide a more comfortable and inviting experience for patients.

“Because it's proven, in data and research, that when you have armed security, that escalates the situation, and there are models across the country that have changed that, and they've been successful,” she said.

But staff said that’s an example of a change that comes from someone who doesn’t do the work on a daily basis.

Here’s Gurule again.

“We all have been involved in some sort of violent incident at The Care campus, and that statement is from someone who doesn't work in direct care. Those decisions are going to get… I'll stand by that. It's going to get staff extremely hurt. That is someone that does not understand what we do,” she said.

While county staff were unified against the law, other behavioral health providers in attendance voiced loud support for it.

“My name is Rachel Biggs. I'm with Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless, and we are here to stand in strong support of the behavioral health ordinance. We feel the providers were really heard and centered in a lot of the conversation,” Biggs said.

The Behavioral Healthcare Authority will incorporate treating traditional mental health disorders, along with substance use disorders, and social issues like housing insecurity and poverty.

It will act as a hub to connect nonprofits and streamline bureaucratic processes, “and I believe this ordinance gives us that blueprint to move forward together as good partners in addressing some of our hardest challenges in the county,” Biggs said.

Paul Chavez, is the founder and Executive Director for State of the Heart Recovery:

“I'm very excited, and I'm here to support this ordinance. I think that we're hearing a lot of fear, and I think in this industry, fear is common,” Chavez said. “I think, you know, accountability and transparency are probably two of the biggest reasons why I'm so supportive of this ordinance.”

Dr. Anjali Taneja is a family physician and executive director of Casa De Salud, which provides health care and harm reduction services for people using drugs. She said she strongly supports the ordinance.

In an email to KUNM she said “This new authority can help develop coordinated strategy and goals, planning, and oversight for the county's efforts, to best support everyone in our community.”

The law, which passed with a 3 to 2 vote, will be slowly implemented in phases according to Dr. Wayne Lindstrom, the deputy county manager recently hired to head the new authority.

He also said he’ll be trying to expand services, not cut anything back, so staff’s positions are more secure than they think.

And for staff who expressed concern about losing their boss, Jessica Jaramillo-Salazar, the interim director of Behavioral Health Services, he hinted she may actually be getting a raise.

“There have been people who have been operating on an interim basis in many of the current leadership positions,” he said, “and one of the first things I want to see happen is that they have a permanent status, no longer on interim and get compensated accordingly.”

The new law takes effect on July 1.

Support for this coverage comes from the W.K. Kellogg foundation.

Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Daniel Montaño is a reporter with KUNM's Public Health, Poverty and Equity project. He is also an occasional host of Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Let's Talk New Mexico since 2021, is a born and bred Burqueño who first started with KUNM about two decades ago, as a production assistant while he was in high school. During the intervening years, he studied journalism at UNM, lived abroad, fell in and out of love, conquered here and there, failed here and there, and developed a taste for advocating for human rights.
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