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Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act (BHRIA)

State Status

During the 2025 Legislative Session, the State of New Mexico enacted the  Behavioral Health Reform and Investment Act (BHRIA)  which officially took effect on June 20, 2025.

Since that time, the State’s Administrative Office of the Courts  and the State’s Health Care Authority  have been working to develop a regional approach to statewide behavioral health reform under the oversight of a statewide Behavioral Health Executive Committee which, among other things, has designated regions according to judicial districts.

The State’s Executive Committee has also adopted a specific approach to commence in the fall of FY26 as outlined in this  State letter addressed to County Managers and Tribal Leaders.  A copy of our region’s response can be found here.

Regional Status

Our State-determined Behavioral Health Region One (BHR1) includes the following 14 unique, separate, and distinct governments, with Santa Fe County serving as the region’s initial lead entity:

1. Jicarilla Apache Nation
2. Ohkay Owingeh
3. Pueblo of Santa Clara
4. Pueblo de San Ildefonso
5. Pueblo of Nambe
6. Pueblo of Pojoaque
7. Pueblo of Tesuque
8. County of Los Alamos
9. County of Rio Arriba
10. County of Santa Fe
11. City of Espanola
12. City of Santa Fe
13. Town of Edgewood
14. Village of Chama

The required actions outlined in the  State letter to County Managers and Tribal Leaders include:

1. Development of a regional a planning committee for Stakeholder Workshops to identify the region’s top behavioral health priorities;
2. Participation in Listening Sessions to garner feedback on those identified priorities;
3. Development of a Regional Behavioral Health Plan approved at the local and state level not later than June 30, 2026.

Once this occurs, the region may apply for State behavioral health funds under the Act in accordance with its approved regional behavioral health plan.

BHR1 planning committee members are recommended and selected by the region's core team, which is a team comprised of a First Judicial District Court representative in addition to those designated by their respective County or Tribal leaders who provided a formal letter of support for this State-driven process. 

The workshops will be facilitated by UNM’s Health Sciences Center and cannot include more than 100 participants and must be in person. This means that there will be stakeholders unable to attend but who can otherwise participate in the listening sessions that will be facilitated by the New Mexico Alliance of Health Councils (please see below).

Since BHR1 recently completed similar workshops specific to adults that were facilitated by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), we were advised that our region’s workshop under BHRIA would be specific to youth with participants selected accordingly and as representative as possible, all things considered. Below reflects the final reports for all four of these, noting that AOC will be working with Tribes, Nations, and Pueblos on a similar workshop specific to adults since these were omitted in the referenced recent adult workshops facilitated by AOC for the R1 counties. 

Workshop Reports & Priorities

• Adult Workshop Report with Priorities
  for Los Alamos County
• Adult Workshop Report with Priorities
  for Rio Arriba County
• Adult Workshop Report with Priorities
  for Santa Fe County
• Youth Workshop Report with Region One Priorities

Region One Youth Behavioral Health Workshop.
Photo Courtesy of Moving Arts Espanola and the Lightening Boy Foundation

Remote Listening Sessions facilitated by the Alliance were held on January 12, 14, and 15 to invite feedback on the identified priorities. We made every effort to get the word out far and wide within the region.  Listening sessions included youth-specific breakout “rooms” co-facilitated by a youth-specific provider, and select Senior Centers were made available to help ensure additional participation access. You can access to full report below. 

• Community Listening Session Report

Additional Stakeholder Participation Opportunities

In our ongoing effort to ensure ample opportunities for stakeholder engagement in the development of a regional plan, the planning group invites interested parties to virtually join any or all of the meetings scheduled below.

Learning More

Please remember that this State-determined model and methodology is an evolving process that will develop over time. Should you wish to learn more, please visit all of the hyperlinks contained on this page. For BHR1 folks who have additional questions, please feel free to reach out  here.