Bishops call for mental health, recovery resources amid New Mexico’s public safety crisis

The Catholic bishops of New Mexico have issued a call to bolster mental health and addiction recovery resources, as violent incidents in that state have prompted Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to seek urgent legislative reform.

On July 29, the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement urging “anchor organizations in the community with a public-private partnership to address the root causes of public safety, which lie mainly in mental health issues and alcohol and drug addictions.”

Named on the statement were Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, Bishop Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces and Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup. Additional signatories included the conference’s Executive Director Allen Sánchez; Associate Director Deacon Steve Rangel; and Advocate Rebecca Lucero.

Grisham had convened a special session of the state’s Legislature July 18 following significant ongoing crime and other public safety challenges.

Among the key issues cited by Grisham were a lack of mental health services for criminal defendants, inadequate standards for mental health treatment, flawed crime reporting by law enforcement agencies, gun violence, organized crime, drug overdoses, high pedestrian fatality rates and wildfires.

The bishops’ statement pleaded for expanded treatment of mental disorders and substance abuse.

“It is far too common to hear the story from New Mexico families that after a loved one has hit bottom or a family intervention has taken place and an individual is ready for treatment, there are no or too few options for detox, treatment, and aftercare,” it stated.

Public-private partnerships have already proven effective in tackling early childhood needs, said the bishops, pointing to “spectacular success” through funding from New Mexico’s Land Grant Permanent Fund and the state’s Early Childhood Trust Fund.

“We believe state leaders, anchor organizations, and advocates can come together to find the funding sources for treatment of mental health, alcohol, and drug addictions,” it said.

The bishops’ statement also emphasized that such an approach “would be the correct order of placing the horse before the cart.

“It is essential, in the efforts of tackling the epidemic of behavioral health issues in our state, that these resources be in place before we have the conversation about mandatory treatment by the courts,” it continued. “If we can’t provide the services for voluntary treatment, how will we ever implement a system for mandatory treatment?”

Responsibility for addressing the underlying causes of New Mexico’s public safety crisis “falls on the shoulders of the government, non-profits, and every citizen of the state,” said the bishops’ statement, adding that “people suffering from mental health issues … many times turn to drugs for self-medication.”

“Together, we can rebuild the mental health system of the state,” the bishops’ statement concluded, saying they “remain hopeful that the task before us can be accomplished in the same magnificent ways of the Early Childhood campaign and with the hope that these challenges do not also take us a decade to resolve.”

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