NMCAL NEWS RELEASE
The New Mexico Crisis and Access Line (NMCAL) is celebrating 10 years of engaging New Mexicans in accessing the support they need for their emotional, mental, behavioral, and substance use concerns.
In January 2013, the first three New Mexico based staff were hired at the Albuquerque call center and on February 1, 2013 NMCAL took its first call. Ten years later there are 40 New Mexico based staff and the NMCAL array of services has supported more than 510,342 calls, chats, and texts through the New Mexico Crisis and Access Line, Healthcare Worker and First Responder Support Line, Rio Grande Gorge Bridge intercoms, community mental health agencies after hours support, Peer-to-Peer Warmline, and the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. More recently, as the primary responder to New Mexico’s 988 initiative, NMCAL call volume has nearly doubled since July of 2013. All told, more than 321,685 hours have been spent providing support to people from all counties throughout the state.
With New Mexico’s suicide rate at 77% higher than the U.S. national average and roughly 130,000 New Mexicans reporting past-year alcohol dependence or misuse, it is vital that we continue to create pathways to wellness which remove barriers and open doors for people to access a healthier life. NMCAL ensures that there is access to wraparound care and diligently works to further support the recovery process of New Mexicans by referring people to community based services and encouraging engagements with digital wellness programs that offer integrated self-help tools through the NM 5-Actions Program and the NMConnect app.
Throughout the 10 years of service, multiple partnerships have been created between NMCAL and the New Mexico Behavioral Health Collaborative department agencies. “By coordinating efforts through state, county, city, and local services we have been able to expand our offerings and create initiatives that strengthen access, which support people in attaining the right care at the right time for their specific needs,” Wendy Linebrink-Allison, program manager for the New Mexico Crisis and Access Line. “As a result, underserved populations in all counties are being reached, including 58% who either have Medicaid or no insurance, 62% who are not enrolled in behavioral health services, and 17% who are unhoused.”
The NMCAL array of services is staffed by behavioral health professionals who can respond to both crisis and non-crisis mental health and substance use concerns 24 hours a day, 7 days per week, and are available statewide and toll-free for all New Mexicans. For more information, visit http://www.nmcrisisline.com. And, if you or someone you know needs support you can access our support by calling 1-855-NMCRISIS (855-662-7474) or by downloading the NMConnect app.
The New Mexico Crisis and Access Line provides free behavioral health services to all New Mexicans through funding received by the following State of New Mexico agency departments: Behavioral Health Collaborative, Behavioral Health Services Division, Children Youth and Families Department Behavioral Health Services, Children Youth and Families Department Protective Services Division, Higher Education Department, and the Department of Health Office and School and Adolescent Health. We offer support in all languages. Interpretation services available in 241 languages through Language Services Associates. For our hearing, and speech impaired callers, we utilize Relay New Mexico, a free 24-hour service that ensures equal communication access via the telephone to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind or speech disabled. TTY line available by dialing 1-855-227-5485. Written information is available in both English and Spanish.