This article in an in-depth report on two major developments on rebuilding the New Mexico Mental Health Care System and how the mentally ill will be provided with desperately need services. It reports on how they will be dealt with by the criminal justice system and the courts. The article also provides the historical and legislative action and changes in the laws dealing with the mentally ill and the unhoused that was required to get both accomplished.
SIX BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE CLINICS OPENING, MORE TO COME
Back in 2013, many of the state’s behavioral health clinics were dismantled by then Republican Governor Susana Martinez. On December 13, 2025, KRQE News 13 reported that now, a full 12 years later, in response to the need for substance use and mental health treatment, the New Mexico Health Care Authority is opening up six clinics across the state.
New Mexico Solutions in Bernalillo County is one of six new behavioral health clinics that opened on January 1 under the New Mexico Health Care Authority’s (HCA) certified community behavioral health clinic designation. New Mexico Solutions CCBHC Project Director Victoria Standley said a big problem she has seen in the county is getting help quickly, which she’s hoping they’ll help solve by expanding their hours. Standley said this:
“A lot of the time they have to wait weeks, months to get in, and once you get in, you have to do all these steps before seeing somebody. … So we already have great access, but we are improving access.”
Standley said they’re also developing a mobile crisis team to bring people on the street into their clinic for services.
The five other new clinics will open in Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Curry, Lea, and Doña Ana counties, which will bring the total to 13. New Mexico HCA Behavioral Health Services Director Nick Boukas said this:
“We’re really excited to bring these services that serve all age groups regardless of if they can pay into their community, so they don’t have to travel far distances to get the help they need.”
Boukas said these clinics were chosen in part because there’s been an increase in overdoses in these areas, and in turn an increased need for substance use and mental health services. Boukas said this:
“These providers are gonna be based in those communities and can work with them directly because they’re gonna be more trusted because they know the community.”
Boukas believes the additional six opening will make a difference in helping people navigate the system and said this:
“They will have agreements for inpatient, and services they cannot provide, they’ll have contracted services so we’re not leaving somebody to have to Google or go through the phone book trying to figure out what do I do next.”
The HCA said that once these six open next year, they will start working to open up more across the state.
The following agencies are certified and began services January 1:
- Guidance Center of Lea County – Hobbs
- New Mexico Solutions – Albuquerque
- La Clinica De Familia – Las Cruces
- Mental Health Resources – Clovis
- Presbyterian Medical Services – Española and Santa Fe
These clinics opened in 2025 as certified community behavioral health clinics:
- University of New Mexico Health System – Bernalillo and Sandoval Counties
- Carlsbad Life House – Eddy County
- Families and Youth Innovations Plus – Doña Ana County
- Santa Fe Recovery Center – Santa Fe and McKinley Counties
- Presbyterian Medical Services, Farmington Community Health Clinic – San Juan County
The link to the quoted and relied upon news source is here:
BERNALILLO COUNTY METROPOLITAN DIVERSION COURT
On January 6, the Metropolitan Court Diversion Court was launched. The new court will redirect people with serious mental illness into treatment as an alternative to criminal prosecution for minor and nonviolent crimes. The new court will deal with people who previously have had criminal charges dismissed because they were found incompetent to stand trial. The criminal competency Diversion Court is the fifth such program statewide and is the first in the state’s largest county.
During the recent Special Session of the New Mexico legislature that ended on October 2, 2025, the legislature enacted legislation which allows the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court to determine competency which previously was only allowed by the State District Court. A recent report by the New Mexico Justice Reinvestment Working Group found that 65% of individuals who enter the state’s criminal justice system have a behavioral health need and the criminal justice system cannot provide necessary medical treatment and facilities.
State lawmakers appropriated $293,000 a year for the Diversion Court which will pay for a program coordinator and two case managers, or navigators, to direct people to appropriate mental health and substance-abuse treatment and basic services such as housing. The funding also will pay for the program’s behavioral health service provider, Albuquerque-based A New Awakening.
The Diversion Court provides people who are unhoused with the opportunity to resolve pending misdemeanor cases, outstanding warrants and unpaid fines, all of which can pose barriers to housing and employment opportunities and hinder progress toward self-sufficiency. The Diversion Court will be able to do more when it comes to the homeless who suffer from severe mental illness or who are drug addicted and are a danger to themselves and others.
Candidates for the program are people charged with misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies, excluding those facing drunken-driving charges. The program comes at a time when encampment sweeps around Albuquerque have increased significantly and have led to an increase in misdemeanor charges like unlawful camping and blocking the sidewalk. The program provides an alternative for a judge who otherwise would have little choice but to dismiss the charges.
In cases involving the unhoused or those with mental illness, misdemeanor citations often lead to jail stays down the line due to missed court hearings. According to a Bernalillo County jail population dashboard, just over 7,000 people were booked on misdemeanor charges in 2025. The competency diversion program is intended to guide people with severe mental illness into services that may include housing, medical needs and appropriate mental health or substance-use treatment.
At the January 6 ceremony announcing the Diversion Court, where upwards of 100 people attended, New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Briana H. Zamora shared her experiences as a trial judge where he observed a decline in the well-being of criminal defendants who returned to her courtroom time and again. Judge Zamora said this:
“At the beginning, especially here at Metro Court, they would come with their family members, their relatives, their friends. … After about 20 or 30 cases, or a few years later, they came alone. They were unhoused and they had no support. [Struggling families would ask to order treatment and services] and within the constraints of the law, I was unable to do so. … I as a judge, of course, I want to apply the law, but I also want to ensure that justice is done. And without any programs in place, without any place to refer them, my hands were tied. There was nothing I could do, and it just broke my heart to see these families and friends who were desperately trying to help out their loved ones and had no avenue to do so. …”
Bernalillo County Metro Court Judge Nina Safier is the Presiding Judge for the Diversion Court. She said the criminal competency diversion court is intended to restore services to people caught up for years in the criminal justice system. Judge Safier said this:
“By the time you end up in jail, you have fallen through many cracks. … We have to reconnect people with the services that got pulled from underneath them, because the criminal justice system and jail is not going to help. … As a competency court judge, the most common request I hear is, ‘Judge, we just want them to get help.’ And as Justice Zamora said, the answer before was, ‘That’s not the process.’ Now the process can take on a new direction. You can reconnect with the services that people suffering — our communities are watching, their families want them to get help.”
Judge Safier said a key element of the Diversion Court is trained staff who can help obtain treatment and services for people who otherwise have difficulty navigating the system. She said staff members also can bump people to the head of the line for needed services.
Bennett Baur, the chief public defender for the New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender, said he is uncertain how the program will work but applauded the effort to find alternatives to prosecution for people with severe mental illness. Baur said this:
“I think it’s a really good thing for us to look at different ways to address serious behavioral health issues, rather than just depending upon prosecution, jail and prison, which clearly doesn’t work for these folks. … I’m concerned that there may not be enough appropriate treatment, but let’s give this a chance.”
The Administrative Office of the Courts has launched four competency diversion courts since mid-2024. Those courts are in the 3rd Judicial District in Las Cruces, the 4th Judicial District in Las Vegas, the 1st Judicial District in Santa Fe and the 12th Judicial District in Otero and Lincoln counties. So far, nearly 60 people statewide have already graduated from the diversion court programs.
The links to the relied upon or quoted news sources are here:
https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/new-pilot-program-aims-to-break-cycle-for-nonviolent-offenders/
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro-court-program-offers-new-treatment-options/2955055
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro-court-program-aims-to-treat-mentally-ill-defendants/2952594
HOW COMPETENCY DIVERSION COURT WORKS
On December 13, 2025 the Albuquerque Journal published a guest opinion column by Metropolitan Court Judge Nina Safier who is the presiding judge over the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Diversion Court. In her Journal guest column, Judge Safier wrote about how the Diversion Court works and she wrote this in part:
When a defendant’s attorney, the prosecutor or the presiding judge has concerns that a person may be suffering from a mental illness or other conditions — to a degree that prevents them from understanding the criminal proceedings and assisting in their own defense — an evaluation to determine whether they are competent to face prosecution is required by law.
For decades, individuals experiencing mental illness who were charged with nonviolent crimes remained in limbo for extended periods of time while costly professional forensic evaluations were completed. Those evaluations often ended with the conclusion that the individual was legally incompetent to stand trial, and the case was dismissed, foreclosing any further prosecution. In more serious cases, after additional Court determinations regarding dangerousness, cases were transferred to the state’s Behavioral Health Institute for competency restoration treatment, and/or civil commitment might also have been part of the competency process.
The current forensic competency examination process is expensive, lengthy and only serves the purpose of determining whether a person is competent to stand trial. The process is not designed to connect individuals with treatment or address other needs they may have.
The newly created Competency Diversion Program team will work to identify and screen qualified individuals when they are first booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on eligible nonviolent charges. That includes individuals with a history of prior competency assessments or those identified by scored intake screenings.
Upon identifying an individual with a documented history of mental illness, the assigned state prosecutor and defense counsel must both agree to refer the case to the pilot program.
After referral to the diversion program, a defendant will not go through the competency evaluation process. Instead, trained staff, called “navigators,” will refer and help participants engage with appropriate services in the areas of housing and medical needs, inpatient or residential treatment, intensive outpatient treatment or community-based treatment for mental health and/or substance use. Participants will voluntarily consent to any behavioral health treatment. It is not court ordered. Competency Diversion program managers will assess and monitor the participant for compliance with those community-based services.
People facing misdemeanor charges will be referred to the program for three to six months, while those facing nonviolent felony charges will be referred for six months to a year. The Court will dismiss the charges if and when individuals successfully complete a needs-based plan developed in collaboration with their navigator and behavioral health provider. Those who fail to remain engaged with program’s requirements will be terminated and the original criminal proceedings will resume.
With funding provided during a special legislative session last year, the diversion pilot program for competency-related cases is up and running in four judicial districts here in New Mexico with promising results. This new approach to helping one of our state’s most vulnerable populations is designed to hold defendants accountable while providing them with meaningful rehabilitation.
Our jail facilities and the criminal justice system were not created to provide long-term care and oversight for those struggling with mental illness. We can and should try to make our communities safer and healthier by helping individuals connect with and receive the services they most need.
In cases involving minor, nonviolent crime, spending extensive time and resources deciding whether someone can understand their criminal charges and participate in their defense is an outdated endeavor. It is time we ask a new question — how can we help meet the needs of this population to prevent them from coming back into the criminal justice system again?
No process is guaranteed to address everyone’s unique circumstances and challenges. This new approach has been created to help encourage and connect people with existing services so they can achieve better outcomes. Reducing arrests while helping individuals is definitely a step in the right direction for Albuquerque.
The link to Judge Nina Safier’s full guest column is here:
https://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/opinion-moving-from-dismissal-to-accountability/2938589
RECALLING THE GUTTING OF NON-PROFIT MENTAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS BY GOVERNOR SUSANA MARTINEZ
One of the cruelest things that Republican Governor Suzana Martinez did as Governor was order an “audit” of mental health services by nonprofits in New Mexico. The audit devastated New Mexico’s behavioral health system. In 2013, more than 160,000 New Mexicans received behavioral health services with most of those services funded by Medicaid according to the Human Services Department at the time.
In June 2013, under the direction of Governor Martinez, the Human Services Department cut off Medicaid funding to 15 behavioral health nonprofits operating in New Mexico. The Martinez Administration said that the outside audit showed more than $36 million in overbilling, as well as mismanagement and possible fraud. The audit was false and a politcal hatchet job. The Martinez Human Services Department agency brought in the 5 Arizona providers to take over.
In early 2016, 13 of the 15 nonprofits that were shut down were exonerated of all fraud charges by New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas. Even though AG Balderas found no fraud and cleared the nonprofits of fraud, the damage had been done to the nonprofits and many just went out of business. Lawsuits ensued and the Governor Lujan Grisham Administration was stuck settling most of the cases out of court to the tune of millions of taxpayer dollars.
Three of the five Arizona providers brought in by Governor Susana Martinez’s administration in 2013 to replace the New Mexico nonprofits pulled up stakes in New Mexico and the states mental health system never fully recovered.
The freezing of Medicaid funding to 15 providers over false fraud and false overbilling accusations and intentionally gutting the state’s mental health care system can only be described as cruel and vicious conduct by a political hack. For the past 12 years, the state is still playing catch up to fill the void to provide mental health care services to those who desperately need them.
https://www.abqjournal.com/749923/third-arizona-behavioral-health-provider-to-pull-out-of-state.html
EXTENT OF CRISIS
A recent report by the New Mexico Justice Reinvestment Working Group astonishingly found that 65% of individuals who enter the state’s criminal justice system have a behavioral health need and that the criminal justice system cannot provide necessary medical treatment and facilities. According to Kaiser Family Foundation data, New Mexico has one of the nation’s highest suicide rates, and more than one-third of state residents reported anxiety or a depressive disorder in 2023.
Adrian Avila, the chief of staff for the New Mexico Senate Finance Committee, was tasked with taking the lead on crafting the package after a special session called by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ended with the Democratic-controlled Legislature declining to take up all of the governor’s crime-focused agenda.
Avila went so far as to traveled to Miami Florida with behavioral health advocates to tour the Miami-Dade County Court diversion program that has drawn accolades for its success. Avila said the “Miami model” would not be totally feasible in New Mexico because the state’s population is not as densely concentrated.
Avila described the package that grew out of countless meetings and negotiations as a “bottom-up” approach to tackling mental health and drug abuse issues across the state.
On February 4, 2025, Avila told the Senate Finance committee this:
“We’re creating an entire ecosystem here.”
Democrat Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth of Santa Fe and Republican Senate Minority Floor leader William Sharer of Farmington jointly sponsored Senate Bill 1 of the behavioral health legislation. On February 4, 2025, they presented their legislation together to the Senate Public Affairs Committee. Several other top Republicans and Democrats teamed up to carry the bills. Republican Senator Sharer said this of the $1 Billion funding:
“Things are getting worse, not better. … This is a huge, huge amount of money, but also a huge accountability piece. … So this is it.”
2025 POINT-IN-TIME (PIT) REPORT ON CITY’S HOMELESS
On November 17, 2025 the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness released the 2025 Point-In-Time (PIT) Report for the numbers of unhoused in Albuquerque. The link to review the entire 62-page 2024 PIT report is here:
The highlights of the 2025 Point-In-Time (PIT) Report data as it relates to Albuquerque can be summarized in a nutshell as follows:
2,960 total homeless people were reported in Albuquerque, which broken down is as follows:
- 1,367 are reported as unsheltered people
- 1,327 are reported in emergency shelters which is up from 658 in 2011
- 266 in transitional housing with women more prevalent than men in this type of housing
- 8% of people reported experiencing homelessness for first time
- 2,566 total are reported as homeless groups/families in Albuquerque
The PIT report showed of the 1,367 unsheltered people, 49.8% of them said they were experiencing homelessness for the first time, a “sharp uptick” that may be linked to things such as inflation and repeals of pandemic-era relief programs, including an eviction moratorium.
The 2025 PIT study found nearly 50% of respondents were not from New Mexico. A majority of transplants said they were from Texas, Arizona or Colorado. About 36% of those respondents said they were not homeless prior to moving to New Mexico.
In the last three years, the city has spent upwards of $300 million on homeless shelters, programs and purchasing and remodeling motels for low-income housing. In 2021, the city acquired the Lovelace Hospital complex on Gibson for $15 million and has spent upwards of $90 million to remodel it into the Gateway shelter.
The fiscal year 2026 approved General Fund budget for the Health, Housing and Homelessness Department is $53.3 million. The sum includes $48 million for strategic support, health and human services, affordable housing, mental health services, emergency shelter services, homeless support services, shelter operations, substance abuse services and $4.2 million for the Gibson Gateway maintenance division.
The Gateway Network consists of 5 shelters costing a staggering $300 Million dollars spent over the last 3 years to assist upwards of 3,000 to 5,000 unhoused.
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_42aba680-62c4-4228-95a2-da72df1a34e1.html
2025 ENACTEMENT OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PACKAGE
It was during the 2025 New Mexico legislative session that New Mexico’s behavioral health care system emerged as a major priority as lawmakers grappled with how to reduce violent crime rates, drug abuse and homelessness. A bipartisan approach emerged after interim committee meetings during the summer of 2024 that rejected Governor Lujan Grisham’s proposed legislation for involuntary commit of those who suffer from severe mental illness and who pose a serious risk to themselves and others. It was an attempt to remodel a fragmented and largely ineffective state behavioral care health system.
During the 2025 New Mexico legislature, three Senate Bills were enacted:
Senate Bill 1: This bill created a $1 Billion-dollar behavioral health trust fund that would be invested by the State Investment Council. A yearly distribution of 5% of the fund’s value. or $50 million at the start, would be made to help fund programs statewide.
Senate Bill 2: This bill appropriated $140 million to the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts and various state agencies to set up a new framework for behavioral health programs statewide.
Senate Bill 3: This bill required regional plans be crafted for providing mental health and substance abuse treatment. The plans would be overseen by the state judicial branch and would include timelines and regional funding priorities.
JUDICIARY IN CHARGE OF NEW MENTAL HEALTH CARE MODEL
Under the enacted legislation, the new mental health care model is placed in charge of the State Judiciary for planning while leaving the state Health Care Authority largely in charge of overseeing funding. This is a dramatic change from the previous system that largely fell under the executive branch’s jurisdiction.
The enacted legislation increased accountability by requiring regional plans outlining priorities for providing mental health and substance abuse treatment. The new $1 billion trust fund provides at least $50 million of annual funding to support the regional plans, which would largely be overseen by the state’s judiciary.
During the 2024 Special Session, legislators appropriated $3 million to ramp up court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment programs for individuals with mental illness in three judicial districts.
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_aa158e90-d9c9-11ef-aa34-477662558954.html
MENTAL HEALTH COMMITMENTS
During the 2025 legislature, legislation was enacted changing the process for evaluating whether criminal defendants are competent to stand trial. House Bill 4 was enacted and specifically requires that competency evaluators determine whether defendants are dangerous to themselves or others.
After a competency hearing, and if a defendant is found not to be competent, a judge then decides whether the defendant poses a threat. Based on that determination, a defendant would either be ordered to attend an assisted outpatient treatment program or be sent to the state Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
The enacted Omnibus Crime Package gives prosecutors more options to involuntarily commit people into a locked psychiatric facility if they are found to be dangerous to themselves or others and unable to stand trial.
Under House Bill 4, when a court determines that a defendant is not competent to proceed in a criminal case the court shall determine if the defendant is dangerous. A defendant who is not competent is dangerous if the court finds clear and convincing evidence that the defendant presents a serious threat of:
(1) inflicting great bodily harm, as defined in Section 30-1-12 NMSA 1978, on another person;
(2) committing criminal sexual penetration, as provided in Section 30-9-11 NMSA 1978;
(3) committing criminal sexual contact of a minor, as provided in Section 30-9-13 NMSA 1978;
(4) committing abuse of a child, as provided in Subsection D of Section 30-6-1 NMSA 1978;
(5) violating a provision of the Sexual Exploitation of Children Act;
(6) committing human trafficking, as provided in Section 30-52-1 NMSA 1978;
(7) committing a felony involving the use of a firearm; or
(8) committing aggravated arson, as provided in Section 30-17-6 NMSA 1978.
The link to review House Bill 4 is here:
https://legiscan.com/NM/text/HB4/2025
After a competency hearing, and if a defendant is found not to be competent, a judge then decides whether the defendant poses a threat to themselves or others. Based on that determination, a defendant is either ordered to attend an assisted outpatient treatment program or sent to the state Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
The biggest hurdle in the Behavioral Health legislation was that there was a shortage of available facilities to send those committed for treatment with funding to build such facilities
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
After a full twelve years, at last it can be said that significant, tangible progress is being made to address the states mental health and unhoused crisis. It has been accomplished on two separate levels: establishing behavioral health clinics and the diversion courts to deal with the mentally ill or drug addicted.
THE UNHOUSED CRISIS
The unhoused crisis in Albuquerque has only gotten worse over the last few years. The city has built a Gateway network that includes 5 emergency shelters but many homeless people refuse the city shelter and services. What sticks out is the staggering amount of $300 Million spent over three years to establish the five Gateway shelter system with upwards of $60 Million a year now being spent to try and provide assistance to so few, estimated to be upwards of 3,000 unhoused identified by the PIT count. The city and charitable providers say the likely actual figure of unhoused is upwards of 5,000 because many are not identified by the PIT survey.
The biggest problem is that upwards of 75% of the unhoused refuse city services. Complicating matters is the fact that the 2025 PIT study found nearly 50% of respondents were not from New Mexico indicating the the unhoused are migrating to the city. The blunt reality is Albuquerque is now New Mexico’s capitol for the homeless service because of referrals made from throughout the state and thanks to Mayor Keller’s 5 integrated shelters known as the GATEWAY system and the Albuquerque City Council acquiescence. The City is managing the homeless who are from far beyond the city’s borders. The City and the State’s unhoused numbers are getting worse and not better after spending millions.
A 2025 report by the city found 30% of individuals experiencing homelessness self-report having a serious mental illness, 25% self-report having a substance use disorder and around 66% experience some form of mental health condition. The biggest problem is that upwards of 75% of the chronic, emergency unhoused simply refuse city services, yet the city continues with spending millions a year to benefit few.
FORM SPECIALIZED UNIT TO INITIATE MENTAL HEALTH COMMITMENTS
It is likely that the Albuquerque Police Department and the city’s Community Safety Department know who the “frequent flyers” are and who need to be taken immediately off the streets because they pose and immediate threat to themselves and others. Both departments could and should assist the District Attorney or the City Attorney with civil mental health commitments of the unhoused and file civil mental commitment actions.
The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office and the Albuquerque City Attorney’ office should form specialized unit of at least four attorneys to deal exclusively with civil mental commitment actions in the Metropolitan Court’s new Diversion Court. The state or courts would provide funding for the mental health services provided by the state through the Behavioral Health Trust Fund and the Behavioral Health Reform Package. The District Attorney should cross deputized Assistant City Attorney’s, supported with para legals, to initiate mental health commitment to work in unison with the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office. Such an arrangement of cross deputization of Assistant City Attorney’s has occurred in the past with the City Attorney’s Metro Court Traffic Court arraignment program that processed at one time 60,000 cases a year negotiating plea agreements.
It is understood The Gateway Shelter on Gibson, which is the former Lovelace Medical Center and Hospital, is still largely vacant and has upwards of 200 patient rooms that are vacant. The Gateway Shelter on Gibson should be utilized for referrals by the Metropolitan Court’s “Diversion Court” with the State providing mental health services to those committed for mental health and substance abuse treatment.
CONCLUSION
With the opening of a New Behavioral Health Clinic in the city, and the launching of the Metropolitan Criminal Competency Diversion Court, the city stands a fighting change of reducing the number of unhoused on the streets and getting the mentally ill and the drug addicted the health care they so desperately need to turn their lives around and getting them off the streets.