The Bernalillo County Department of Behavioral Health Services issued an update during the Sept. 28 meeting of the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee about their new initiative, which focuses on rehabilitating individuals with behavioral health needs. 

The program is focused on crisis services, community supports, supportive housing and prevention intervention and harm reduction, according to a release, and there have already been 178 referrals since the program started. 

"Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) police officers exercise discretionary authority to divert individuals suspected of low level, non-violent crime driven by unmet behavioral health needs to community based health services," the presentation explained. It is a “collaboration between DBHS, Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff, District Attorneys Office, and Office of the Public Defender."

The focus now is about helping individuals who need services rather than incarcerating anyone who might fit the bill of having committed a crime. 

It does this with a multi-pronged approach: crisis services, community support, supportive housing, and prevention.

Crisis services include mobile crisis teams, fire mobile crisis teams, a resource reentry center and crisis stabilization. Community support includes peer support drop-in center, peer case management, intensive care management, emergency shelter and more. Supportive housing includes community connection, youth transitional living and tiny homes. And prevention intervention and harm reduction includes adverse childhood experiences, training and education and suicide prevention.

Revenue for FY21 has been $25,088,863, according to the release.