FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Mexicans Fighting To
SAVE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
“Two of my clients have tried to kill themselves since services were terminated. They refused to see anyone else.” – Behavioral Health Therapist
The State of New Mexico’s continuing saga of shutting down mental health providers in favor of management by Arizona firms is releasing a torrent of fear, concern and complaints by those directly affected. Here are some of the verbatim comments made in a recent survey, collected in the past two weeks by
New Mexico Rising Up for Community Behavioral Health. Many of the writers have withheld their identities due to confidential subject matter. Others have done so for fear of retaliation.
Family Members and Clients (Patients)
“Continuity of care is essential to my son’s) recovery…”.
“My daughter fears losing another doctor, having to start all over with telling her history and then a new provider wanting to change her medications.”
“When I have to go without therapy, it has a serious, negative impact on my life and the lives of my children….”
“We still don't know if the counselor she's had since she was 8 years old (she's 14 now) will still be available….”
“I have been trying to get a neuropsyche evaluation scheduled for my son and keep running into problems due to what is going on with this take over. No one is taking any new clients at this time because of it and it is preventing me from trying to get the help my minor child needs as well as the services he needs.”
“It is disheartening to have no collaboration with other agencies and to see kids ending up getting worse rather than better because they can't get their mental health needs met in our city anymore.”
Behavioral Health Staff
“Clients have come in asking are you closing? where will we go? Are you going to be here next week? We have clients that have resorted to cutting and burning themselves, acting out with family members and living in fear.”
“….clients are looking elsewhere for their medications because they worry about getting them from (us).”
“It’s very frustrating. I can not get work (done) or serve my clients. I don’t understand how what is being done is ethical.”
Staff (cont.)
“….contracts with local agencies are currently up in the air. There have been no new clients from Federal Probation, State probation. DWI compliance, probation officers, Drug Court, the local judges, or from CYFD since the takeover process began.”
“Our counselor has a caseload of 57 people…these clients will be without a therapist at the end of the week.”
“Hundreds of mental health clients will have to be reassigned to other therapists.”
”We will probably be seeing jails and prisons fill up quickly or the mental hospitals turning away seriously mentally ill patients.”
