CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY-FIRST COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. F/S
R-14-55 ENACTMENT NO. ________________________
SPONSORED BY: Klarissa Pe?a
RESOLUTION
title
F/S Commissioning A Study To Assess The Gaps In The City, County And State's Funding For Certain Social Service Programs; Appropriating Funding For That Purpose (Pe?a)
body
COMMISSIONING A STUDY TO ASSESS THE GAPS IN THE CITY, COUNTY AND STATE'S FUNDING FOR CERTAIN SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS; APPROPRIATING FUNDING FOR THAT PURPOSE.
WHEREAS, it is important that the City Council begins to restore the public's confidence in APD by resolving some of the underlying issues that have plagued our community and that have led us to this point; and
WHEREAS, while not part of their formal recommendations, the DOJ mentioned the need to address the mental health crisis we have in the city; and
WHEREAS, we can longer use the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) to house our residents with severe mental health and substance abuse issues; and
WHEREAS, we must invest in prevention and intervention programs and accessible inpatient and outpatient mental health services. Without addressing these needs and the lack of other services such as services relating to homelessness and to the developmentally disabled, the problems in our community will persist; and
WHEREAS, families throughout the city struggle to find help for family members who suffer from the above-mentioned issues and are forced to deal with them alone. More often than not, the individual never receives the help they need and families anguish over how best to help their loved ones; and
WHEREAS, there are only six psychiatric hospital beds available at UNM; and
WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Detention Center is the largest mental health institution in our state. 60% of the MDC population is either mentally ill, has severe substance abuse problems or both; and
WHEREAS, mentally ill individuals released from the...
Click here for full text