Santa Fe County announces partner in crisis center project

The Santa Fe County Community Services Department has announced that an Albuquerque-based nonprofit, New Mexico Solutions Inc., will be its main partner in the planning process and, eventually, operations of the new Behavioral Health Crisis Center in Santa Fe.

In a news release issued earlier this week, the county says it has contracted with the nonprofit.

Community Services Department Director Rachel O’Connor said Friday that the $40,000 contract for New Mexico Solutions covers the first year of the project and includes an option to renew the deal.

The first phase of the contract calls for identifying a location for the crisis center and creating its design. Site options will be presented to the County Commission at a meeting April 10, O’Connor said.

Phase 2 of the project includes management and operations of the crisis center and a Mobile Health Crisis Team.

New Mexico Solutions has been providing various behavioral health services in the state since the mid-1990s, according to the county’s news release. David Ley, a spokesman with the nonprofit, could not be reached to comment on the partnership.

In the news release, Ley says, “We are extremely honored to partner with Santa Fe County on such an innovative and community centered strategy to improve access to behavioral health services.”

The idea for such a facility arose in May 2016, when the county held a Behavioral Health Summit in Santa Fe. Participants “overwhelmingly urged the County to develop a behavioral health crisis center,” the news release states.

In November 2016, county voters approved a bond authorizing $2 million for the crisis center, and in June, the County Commission voted to approve a one-eighth percent increase in the gross receipts tax to support the facility’s operations.