Advancing care in southern new mexico - the project titled "advancing care in southern new mexico" will meet the unprecedented need for coordinated and integrated services demonstrated through the…

Advancing care in southern new mexico - the project titled "advancing care in southern new mexico" will meet the unprecedented need for coordinated and integrated services demonstrated through the implementation of the first certified community behavioral health clinic in new mexico. The certified community behavioral health clinic has shown gaps in internal and external infrastructures, capacity building, and service provisions provided through families and youth innovations plus's continuum of care. This project will annually serve 200 individuals in doña ANA county through strategically building initiatives to support families and youth innovations plus's certified community behavioral health clinic programming capacity and long-term sustainability in offering wraparound mental health and supportive services to doña ANA county. Creating a certified community behavioral health clinic has been long overdue in new mexico, specifically in doña ANA county (county). Half live in isolated rural areas, while the remaining live in the urbanized city of LAS cruces. One in four lives in poverty, with more than 61% of residents being hispanic (U.S. Census, 2020). Service delivery is a challenge with over 20 small towns and villages that are disconnected from the urban center. Overall, the county is a designated medically underserved area with residents vulnerable to housing and job loss (rates of unemployment as high as 4.7%)-- substance use, domestic violence, and high crime rates (increased by 40% from 2021 to 2022 in the urban core of LAS cruces, new mexico), and increasing mental health challenges for all ages. Launching the first certified community behavioral health clinic within new mexico, families and youth innovations plus has been able to prioritize individuals in crisis, those experiencing a lack of access to behavioral healthcare services (e.g., rural-residing), and in need of support with substance use-related resources. The primary goal of the certified community behavioral health clinic was to increase the capacity of the local mental health crisis response to reduce the risk of high-risk behaviors that may contribute to attempted suicides, unnecessary criminalization of youth and adults, or death. Families and youth innovations plus aimed to increase the number of unduplicated individuals receiving services by 50 in year 1 and 100 in year 2. Since establishing the certified community behavioral health clinic, families and youth innovations plus has served 115 new participants in quarter one of year 1 through treatment services while expanding prevention and intervention services offered.