Minutes January 2025

Jan 23, 2025

Southwestern abstract scene rising sun and cacti

Consortium Meeting

January 23, 2025

Present: Hector Diaz, Estilla Lightfoot, Jerry Ortiz y Pino, Karen Canaday, Eric Moore, Jen Panhorst, Amy Russell, Carolyn Tollett, Melissa Moyer, Jamii Corley, Yolanda Cordova, Anna Nelson, Eli Fresquez III, Alvin Sallee, Kimberly Knox, Ali Sillas, Patti West-Okiri, Stacie Ortiz, Reba Serafin, Monica Montoya, Trinidad Arguello, Lisa Chavez, Jerry Harrison, Ellen Costilla, Emma Gamelsby, Mary Nienow

Approval of Agenda & Minutes

Agenda Approval – A. Nelson and C. Tollett
Minutes Approval – Y. Cordova and E. Moore

New attendee introductions

Lisa Chavez – NMSU adjunct and practicing social worker for Families and ?Youth Intervention Plus (FYI) in Las Cruces
Roxanne  – NMHU Provost
Karen Canaday – new role in Behavioral Health Services Dept
Ali Sillas – Future Focused Education working with Community Care Collective – building career pathways for
Stacie Ortiz – OFRA, new state office July 2023, Family Peer Support navigators and social workers

LHHS Legislative Update– provided by Jerry Ortiz y Pino 

  • HB 70 (to be added to HB 2) – Rep. Lujan is carrying – this is a bill that has received no support from the Gov. It would appropriate 1.2 mil to the health care authority to study NM’s capacity to develop a Medicaid waiver for those who are not covered by this waiver currently. This is done in other states (6); this bill would explore the effort required to execute the change in NM.  This would provide services to the severely mentally ill (SMI), traumatic brain injury (TBI) clients, as well as substance addicted (SUD). In discussion, supportive housing will be a key element of these services. This will extend services to clients who are left in need of support. 
  • CYFD – What to do with the state of this agency. Republicans are keen on an outside oversight authority. It is unclear how this would serve in practice. The LHHS supports the creation of a commission, moving CYFD outside of the governor’s office. This would require a constitutional amendment. Rep. Chavez is sponsoring this bill.
  • Push to make graduate education free.  Higher education was unresponsive on how this would be achieved. The committee drafted their own and anticipates HED to recommend edits as needed. Psychiatric Nursing, Psychology, Social Work, and Counseling

Legislative updates/discussion

  • Alvin Sallee is requesting direction from the Consortium to inform discussions he will have with legislators.  He is also requesting 2-3 members to consult with during session as need may arise. Per by-laws, the chair is available to speak with Alvin.
    • Potential removal of license exam requirements
    • Compact efforts
  • NASW has a Legislative committee comprised of New Mexicans to connect with Alvin. The NASW is offering a legislative advocacy day that is focused on emphasizing and educating others on the compact.

Workgroup report outs

Capacity Building

  • Met several times. There is a need to connect with various organizations to gather information on professional workforce recruitment efforts. A questionnaire has been developed to assess efforts statewide and identify gaps can be addressed.

Professional Isolation and Advocacy

  • The committee has compiled literature on professional isolation. The committee is following the legislature and will be generating a reference sheet to present to the greater consortium for distribution.

Licensure

  • Met a couple of times. Produced a fact sheet regarding licensure in NM, including data on disparities.Working with NMHU on policy briefs on these issues – licensure and exploring the compact. Not likely to be a legislative pass during this session, the group is focused on the conversation that is happening and where it is going. Alternative pathways to licensure are being discussed. States are looking at entry-level licensure requirements. A compact requires a national exam pass for entry, in removal of this requirement NM would not be eligible for compact participation. The exam is one piece of licensure, and removing this element does not remove licensure. In discussion, how do we address this question and clarify (for legislators)? We need a clear narrative to provide. Variables such as graduation from an accredited institution, supervision, background checks, and more – these are elements that contribute to an informed conversation.A fact sheet on alternative licensure will be generated for legislators to inform the discussion.There is no Consortium stance on either licensure or the compact efforts due to lack of sufficient information at this time. The Consortium is currently supporting the status quo but is exploring this further. In discussion, we cannot ignore the workforce need and development. There is a fear of licensure negatively impacting the workforce pipeline. Something to consider is the licensure requirement for billing needs of employing agencies. 

      Shared by Mary Nienow: 2025 OCMH Bridging the Gap White Paper

Updates from New Mexico Schools of Social Work

ENMU  

  • Implementing Child Safety insights project, funding through junior bill monies last year. The BSW program is stable, the MSW program is growing – coming from zero.     

NMHU

  • Anna Nelson is serving as Interim Dean at this time. There are two positions open at this time at NMHU: Native American Social Work Studies Institute and 
    the SWEEP Raíces Outreach Coordinator position: 
    Please consider joining the 2025 Social Work Education Summit, 6 free CEUs, food provided. Topic is Future of Social Work. It will be held in Albuquerque on March 28, 2025. To register. Also, the Student Advocacy in Action (SANA) Day will be hosted by the Center for Excellence in SW on the Behavioral Health Day at the Legislature, Feb. 26. Food and student honoraria are provided. Register here: Final Update: the US DOL Grant, Foundations for Growing Our Own, is in the contracting process with several community and faculty experts across the state to develop professional development trainings and certificates, including ACOSA Community Practice (30-hr cert), Tribal SW, International SW, SW Ethics, DSM and Psychopharm, Culturally/Linguistically Relevant Prep for School SW, and others. These will be made available to social workers and allied professionals statewide during the summer

NMSU

  • National speaker: Talk on social work workforce NMSU is hosting  Jessica Toft Flyer. In the process of hiring from the endowment and hope to hire three more faculty this spring!  

UNM

  • Currently in the beginning stages, hoping to initiate the accreditation process very soon. Two concentration tracks: clinical and medical social work

WNMU

  • Waiting to hear back on retention proposal for student-to-student mentorship. Posted two new positions to increase capacity in the program – one faculty and staff. 2.4 mil received to fund stipends and scholarships. HRSA grant applied for. CSWE site visit completed. WNMU just cleared their most recent HLC

New Business

Budget discussion

  • $50k annual budget, PO received. We are awaiting an invoice. NMHR is the fiscal agent of the Consortium. We have a scope of work drafted that is sufficient to distribute funds once an invoice is received.
    • Website creation and management for recruitment, information sharing,
      • Motion to support the effort for websire creation and management: M. Nienow and E. Lightfoot
      • Discussion: Could this be recurring?  Short answer, no. But organized efforts that are visible to the public can evidence the value of this investment.
      • Passed unanimously

Social Work Education Endowments

The schools wanted to share with the greater consortium they have received monies to the tune of $80 mil in endowed funds. Each school entered into an agreement that HED approved to expend the funds. The agreement varies from school to school, as to the amount of funding each school received. The schools are compiling information to share with the legislature through Alvin. 

Professional Recruitment efforts – pipeline from grade school to practice

Capacity building is not the issue – schools can accept more students. We need to increase the student interest in entry into the profession and how do we encourage entry into the pipeline. The CB action team survey will greatly assist in these efforts

Announcements/Member Comments (workforce needs, concerns, and opportunities) – none at this time

Adjourn – 10:37 am

Next meeting is set for: February 27, 2025 from 9-1030

Dr. Melissa Moyer, LCSW
MSW Program Director/Associate Professor
College of Business Room 183