Health & Human Services (HHS) Division

About Us

The Health and Human Services Division offers assistance to moderate and low income, vulnerable individuals and families in our community, specifically those with substantial behavioral health and social service needs.  The Division’s funded services allow at-risk persons to become healthy, independently functioning members of our community.  Five general service areas form the nexus of the Division: mental health; substance abuse; domestic violence/sexual assault; community health; gang prevention and youth services.  Special projects include Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) team programs, Albuquerque Heading Home grant service coordination, and the Mayor’s Teen Opioid Work Group planning process.  The following is a sample of significant contracted services administered by the Division:

Centralized Substance Abuse Assessment

Albuquerque Metropolitan Central Intake (AMCI)
3121 Amherst NE, Suite B
Albuquerque, NM 87107
(505) 272-9033

The Division of Health & Human Services contracts with the University of New Mexico to operate AMCI -the centralized point of entry for income eligible citizens of Albuquerque into the City’s substance abuse services system. Licensed counselors at AMCI provide substance abuse assessments for adults and adolescents, and case management services.  Based on this assessment the counselor makes referrals for substance abuse treatment to the most appropriate provider in the City’s Substance Abuse Treatment Provider Network.

Substance Abuse Treatment Provider Network

The Division of Health & Human Services contracts with approximately twenty substance abuse treatment providers that receive referrals from AMCI. The size and diversity of the treatment provider network ensures that persons in need of treatment services are matched to the most appropriate treatment provider for the best possible treatment outcomes.

School-based Substance Abuse Treatment

The Division of Health & Human Services administers a school-based treatment program in one Albuquerque middle school. The grant also provides for community referrals of adolescents to AMCI for assessment and referral to outpatient treatment services.

Substance Abuse Treatment Services for Special Populations

The Division of Health & Human Services contracts with community-based agencies to provide outpatient treatment and case management services for adolescents.

Substance Abuse Prevention Services

The Division of Health & Human Services contracts with community-based agencies to provide substance abuse prevention and early intervention services for youth and their families in the metropolitan Albuquerque area.

Assertive Community Treatment

The Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) program delivers comprehensive behavioral health services to individuals who are diagnosed with severe mental illness and whose needs have not been well met by more traditional service delivery approaches in the community. The Health & Human Services Division has developed two ACT teams in Albuquerque. The contracts to operate these programs have been awarded to UNM Hospital and St. Martin’s Hospitality Center. A third ACT team will start in 2012 through a contract awarded to New Mexico Solutions. Each program functions as a mobile, trans-disciplinary treatment team of mental health professionals with staff-shared caseloads that deliver the majority of its services in natural community settings.

Families and Schools Together (FAST)

Families and Schools Together is designed to reduce the risk factors associated with substance abuse and related problem behaviors for children up to 12 years of age and their parents. The 8-week FAST programs are held at multiple sites within the city of Albuquerque, through the Albuquerque Public School System. FAST program components include:

• Weekly multifamily support groups
• Monthly multifamily meetings

Child Witness to Domestic Violence Service

The Division of Health & Human Services contracts with a community-based program targeting children who have witnessed domestic violence to reduce short-term and long-term developmental and behavioral problems related to any violence they have witnessed.

Additional Resources

Suicide Prevention or Crisis Services

The Division of Health & Human Services does not fund any of the following emergency services, however if you are in need of these services please contact any one of the agencies below.

• AGORA Crisis Center:  www.unm.edu/~agora/resources.htm or call  (505) 277-3013
• UNM Psychiatric Center:   (505) 272-2800
• New Mexico Statewide Crisis Line:  1-866-HELP-1-NM (1-866-435-7166)
• USA National Suicide Hotline:   1-800-784-2433
• USA National Crisis Hotline:  1-800-273-8255
• www.suicidehotlines.com/newmexico.html

Contact us