Long-Range Planning for Supportive Housing in New Mexico

Beginning with the successful launch of the New Mexico Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative Long Range Supportive Housing Plan in December of 2007, TAC has supported the state’s sustained effort to create and maintain independent, decent, safe, and affordable housing options linked to flexible community-based supports – a model commonly referred to as permanent supportive housing (PSH). Now, with the release of the new Strategic Plan for Supportive Housing in New Mexico: 2018-2023, co-authored by Cynthia Melugin of the New Mexico Human Services Department and TAC Senior Consultants Jim Yates and Sherry Lerch, the state is excited and empowered to continue creating new PSH opportunities – while also advancing efforts to realign New Mexico’s behavioral health services system. New Mexico aspires to lead by example, adopting innovative strategies to address the challenges of operating PSH across a rural frontier state with a diverse population.

TAC Staff in Action

Staff Activities

Associate Phil Allen, TA & Training Coordinator Kyia Watkins, and Senior Consultant Jim Yates, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs, led a first-ever two-day Program Manager Academy for 75 Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program managers from across the country; Associate Amy Horton conducted a site visit in New York, NY as part of SAMHSA’s national evaluation of the Cooperative Agreements to Benefit Homeless Individuals (CABHI) grant program; Associate Ashley Mann-McLellan and two young adult TA providers from the National Youth Forum on Homelessness attended a two-day workshop together in King County, WA on incorporating youth voices into ending youth homelessness; Ashley also attended this month’s National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference on Youth and Family Homelessness, where she presented on infusing behavioral health partnerships into housing models; Kevin Martone, TAC’s Executive Director, was at the conference too, facilitating a panel discussion he organized on Medicaid and homelessness — and in February, Kevin spoke at the Families USA Health Action Conference on “Reconstructing a Fragmented Behavioral Health System through Wellness and Whole Person Care”; Senior Associate Gina Schaak and Senior Policy Advisor Lisa Sloane headed to Washington, DC for the National Low income Housing Coalition’s annual legislative forum; and Associate Douglas Tetrault, in partnership with the VA SSVF Program Office, led a day-long planning meeting in San Juan, PR focused on efforts to end homelessness among veterans following the devastation of hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Staff Transitions

Congratulations to Associate Lauren Knott and her family on the birth of Eliza Everett Knott — glad to have you on the team, Eliza!