On July 26, 2017, nine New Mexico counties met in Santa Fe with representatives from the New Mexico Human Services Department Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (OSAP) to kick off a pilot program that will provide overdose prevention training and put Narcan kits in the hands of inmates being released from county detention facilities and their families. The meeting, hosted by the New Mexico Association of Counties (NMAC), marked a high point for county-state collaboration. "In these tight fiscal times we need to seek out and capitalize on every opportunity to accomplish more by working together" said NMAC General Counsel Grace Philips. Between 1990 and 2015 the overdose death rate tripled in New Mexico and for most of the past 20 years New Mexico has led the country in overdose deaths. Individuals recently released from jail or prison are 12 times more likely to experience a fatal overdose than at any other time in their life. According to Bernie Lieving, Overdose Prevention Education Coordinator for OSAP, "This pilot could help us turn the curve."
The county-state partnership was sparked by a new law passed by the legislature and signed by the governor earlier this year. HB370 requires New Mexico jails and prisons to provide overdose prevention education and naloxone upon discharge to inmates who have been diagnosed with an opioid use disorder. The mandate was not funded and in the absence of resources to pay for naloxone Dr. Wayne Lindstrom, Director of Behavioral Health Services Division and CEO of the Behavioral Health Collaborative, was committed to providing funding to assist interested counties in meeting the mandate of HB 370. Dr. Lindstrom set aside $440,196 for county jails to purchase naloxone. Chaves, Colfax, Luna, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, San Juan, Sandoval, Sierra, and Taos counties stepped up. "I am really impressed by how responsive counties are to provide Narcan upon release. It was inspiring to see jails problem solve how to integrate this program into their operations," said Karen Cheman, OSAP Director.
The pilot program will include training of county staff so that they can provide overdose education to inmates in addition to actually offering Narcan kits. Many counties expressed interest in making the state-funded kits available to inmate families. "We came here today to talk about how to get Narcan into the hands of inmates leaving our detention facilities and through discussion and collaboration we are now going to offer education and Narcan to family members of people in our custody. County detention facilities are helping to bring about positive change in our communities. This is a proud day for us," said Matthew Elwell, Chair of the NMAC Detention Affiliate and Sandoval County Detention Administrator.
Contact Grace Philips at 505.820.8157 or gphilips@nmcounties.org for more information.