Dear Editor,

Currently, the State of New Mexico is poised to spend $100 million on Behavioral Health reforms in the 2025 legislative session. Future Focused Education, a New Mexico nonprofi t committed to education reform, applauds and supports the State's effort. Yet, we are concerned and must call attention to the absence of young people and public school voices in the bill.

According to the National Council of Mental Health Well-Being, "One in fi ve teens lives with a mental health condition. Half of all mental illnesses begin by age 14 and 75 percent begin by the mid-20's. That means more teens than we think in the United States are struggling with a mental health challenge right now and many don't know what to do."

Behavioral Health careers need to start in high school.

A recent national survey indicated that only 40 percent of school administrators feel capable of dealing with the mental health challenges of the students they serve. The surveys also revealed 80 percent of parents believe that schools should play a critical role in meeting the behavioral health needs of students.

Yet, schools aren't equipped to meet the expectations of our families.

The social workers, therapists, and counselors of the future are in 11th and 12th grade right now and many live in communities where there are literally no Behavioral Health professionals. Dealing with the lack of resources in our communities is critical to addressing New Mexico's mental health crisis.

Young people tell us that peer support is a critical component of their success. Youth with high support from peers are nearly half as likely to attempt suicide (8.0%) as youth with low support from peers (16.2%). Plus, for the last two years, the New Mexico Health Care Workforce Committee Report has suggested peer support as one way of addressing the shortage of mental health care workers in the state.

If we choose to overlook the education sector in our planning and funding process, then we will miss the best opportunity to meet our communities' behavioral health needs before they become a crisis. New Mexico has among the highest youth disengagement rates in the nation and there is a persistent call for more effective approaches to juvenile crime which are signals that we must intervene earlier. If not, we can expect our behavioral health challenges to mushroom in the future.

We have three suggestions that will help rectify this oversight:
● Include funding for Behavioral Health Infrastructure and Capacity Building within the Senate Bills 1, 2, and 3.
● Ensure that the Legislative Education Study Committee recommendation for $3.0 million be included in the budget.
● Include Behavioral Health in the At Risk factor as a strategy to engage vulnerable students.

The lack of funding and attention to schools as critical components of a statewide behavioral health strategy is an oversight and there is time to correct it during the 2025 legislative session. The clock is ticking and it needs to happen now.

Tony Monfi letto
Director of Instituto del Puente at Future Focused Education
And
Kim Lanoy-Sandoval
Executive Director at Future Focused Education