NM Aging Department Long-Term Care Division back in operation

Division will oversee programmatic services for older, disabled New Mexicans
By: Leah Romero 
​Source NM

New Mexico’s Aging and Long-Term Services Department is re-activating its Long-Term Care Division, with a focus on community and caregiver resources. (Courtesy photo ALTSD)

With additional state funds and reorganization of several programs, older New Mexicans, people with disabilities and caregivers now have support through the Aging and Long-Term Services Department’s reactivated Long-Term Care Division.

The Long-Term Care Division has long been part of the state’s aging department, but the division went dormant in Fiscal Year 2012 after community-based Medicaid waiver programs were moved from the division to the New Mexico Department of Health. Programs such as disability assistance and long-term living arrangements moved again last year to the Health Care Authority.

The aging department asked for additional state funds to renew the Long-Term Care Division during the most recent legislative session, and received just under $7 million through House Bill 2 to staff and operate the division. Joey Long, spokesperson for the ALTSD, told Source NM that $500,000 of the total appropriation was directed specifically to the Long-Term Care Division, while the rest was appropriated from existing department funding. Long said the reestablishment of the division is expected to “streamline care coordination,” particularly around community-based services.

The Long-Term Care Division “is going to be coordinating the care that helps us support people staying in their homes in their communities of choice. The division will be primarily focused on community and caregiver support resources, education and training,” Long told Source in an email.

According to a recent ALTSD news release, the division will now provide “coordinated and comprehensive” support to New Mexicans by overseeing programs including New MexiCare, the Veteran-Directed Care Program, the Office of Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Care Transitions and the Kinship Caregiver Pilot Program. 

New MexiCare provides financial assistance and caregiver training to qualifying New Mexicans throughout the state, except Bernalillo and Doña Ana counties — however, the department has previously told Source NM that the goal is to expand the program to encompass all counties. The Care Transition Program provides assistance and resources for people transitioning out of a long-term care facility and back into their own homes or other community setting. 

“The inclusion of this division marks a pivotal moment in how we deliver care to New Mexicans,” Aging and Long-Term Services Department Secretary Emily Kaltenbach said in a written statement. “By housing these vital programs under one focused division, we are ensuring that families, caregivers, and individuals living with complex needs have streamlined access to high-quality, person-centered care.”

According to the department’s news release, the Long-Term Care Division will also work to expand training opportunities and support for caregivers, enhance community-based services across the state, improve access to services in rural and tribal areas and oversee construction of “dementia-capable infrastructure.” 

According to Long, ALTSD Deputy Secretary Angelina Flores-Montoya will directly oversee the division.
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“This is about building out a care system where no one falls through the cracks,” Flores-Montoya said in a written statement. “With the launch of this division, we’re not just reorganizing; we are deepening our commitment to serving the full continuum of long-term care needs in New Mexico.”