New Mexico

The Legislative Finance Committee’s Program Evaluation Unit conducts in-depth studies of state government programs and agencies to determine whether the taxpayers’ dollars are being spent effectively. Program evaluations cover a variety of issues and can involve the breadth of government, from state and local governments to public school districts. New Mexico has published a series of inventory and cost-benefit reports in the areas of children’s behavioral health, adult behavioral health, early education, child welfare, criminal justice, healthcare, and education. In 2019, the Legislative Finance Committee’s evaluation unit published analyses on substance abuse treatment outcomes and Medicaid spending and managed care administration. In FY21, the evaluation unit partnered with Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab North America (J-PAL NA) to evaluate the effectiveness of the state’s early college high schools. In 2022, LFC published a cost-benefit report on child welfare. The LFC also publishes its learning agenda in the form of analyst work plans. All reports from the evaluation unit can be found here.

In 2022, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions used a tiered evidence framework from the AmeriCorps Evidence Exchange to define and prioritize evidence of effectiveness in the allocation of funds through its AmeriCorps grant program. Criteria from the Evidence Exchange assigned preference to evidence-based interventions assessed as ‘Moderate’ or ‘Strong’. Applicants were encouraged to consider interventions through the AmeriCorps Mandatory Supplemental Guidance that further defined evidence tiers. Full evidence-based regulations were also highlighted online at www.ecfr.gov.

During FY23 New Mexico’s Corrections Department moved towards requiring evidence-based programming in all contracts for community Behavioral Health and Transitional Housing. The RFP includes the following language: “Provider shall develop services based on evidence-based practices that are proven to be successful through research methodology and have produced consistent positive patterns of results, such as group treatment for substance abuse, Motivational Interviewing Therapy and Stages of Change Theory. The following criteria shall be utilized for the implementation of Evidence Based Practices (EBP):

1. At least one randomized clinical trial that has shown this practice to be effective;
2. The practice either targets behaviors or shows significant effect on behaviors that are generally accepted outcomes; and
3. The practice should be specific to the treatment organizations population, including racial, linguistic, geographical and cultural factors – including characteristics specific to the offender population.”

In New Mexico in 2014, a Pew Charitable Trusts report cited an example where a cost-benefit analysis revealed a program was not generating cost-savings. The report stated that the New Mexico Corrections Department program inventory, conducted in 2012, “found that fewer than 10 of the more than 40 programs studied were evidence-based.” Further, “the department’s drug abuse prevention programs, Therapeutic Communities, was not operating according to its evidence-based design and, as a result, was not achieving desired outcomes. The department subsequently replaced the program with an alternative, Residential Drug Abuse Treatment, that the Results First analysis showed would generate a return of $4 in benefits for every $1 invested.”

For over a decade, New Mexico’s Children, Youth, and Families Department has used the Missouri model for its juvenile justice program. This program focuses on providing nonpunitive approach to rehabilitation for youth including keeping youth near their family and providing evidence-based behavioral health services as needed. This model has been recognized as evidence-based by Annie E Casey among others. Additionally, since 2012, New Mexico has been investing in home visiting. In FY22, more than 6 thousand families were served with the program and 4,200 of these families were served through an evidence-based or research- based model. The state currently uses two evidence-based models, Nurse Family Partnership and Parents as Teachers and one research-based model, First Born. The results of the home visiting program are annually published in an outcomes report.

A 1999 New Mexico law required all state agencies to submit annual performance-based budget requests that include outputs, outcomes, performance, and evaluation data. The 2019 Evidence and Research Based Funding Requests Act (SB58) amended the 1999 law by defining four tiers of evidence and further requiring certain state agencies to “identify each sub-program as evidence-based, research-based, promising, or lacking evidence of effectiveness” and report on the amount allocated for each of these evidence tiers. Agencies are also required to report how they prioritized evidence- and research- based sub-programs within the budget request. Each year, the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) issues budget instructions that provide guidance for agencies for budget expansions and evidence-based programs as promulgated by the LFC’s Legislating for Results framework.

The state budget and associated budget documents from the LFC include performance data as called for by the Accountability in Government Act, which drives the state’s performance-based budgeting processes. These budgeting processes define performance measures (outputs and outcomes) to annually evaluate the performance of state government programs. The General Appropriations Act contains performance data for many agencies with LFC providing additional analysis and reporting in their policy and performance analysis, budget recommendation, supplemental charts and graphs, and post-session review reports. Furthermore, agency report cards, which include many budget measures, are updated quarterly to outline budget needs. When possible, these metrics are also examined in terms of equity and communities of color, often when these data are reported in the context of evaluated programs.

One example of the state achieving more equitable outcomes though investment has been in education. Some investments can help narrow the educational achievement gap. The Legislature has made significant investments informed by research to address this achievement gap and LFC research has repeatedly found significant gains for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, particularly in early childhood education and extended learning/school year for public schools. In a striking example, LFC found that the combined effects of state funded Prekindergarten and subsequent extended learning in grades K-3 eliminated the achievement gap for low-income children.

The state funds the Anna Age Eight Initiative located at the New Mexico State University which works with communities to survey and assess need, determine what services the community would like to strengthen and conduct CQI to help bring the services identified to the community. So far, this institute has conducted surveys in 9 counties statewide and is working with others. The Anna Age Eight Institute are implementing their community-based model each year, and the Institute is not housed within an agency but functions as an Institute at New Mexico State University. A recently released peer-reviewed journal article focuses on the work of the institute and their collective impact based efforts to address inequities and negative social determinants of health, also detailing receiving input from communities to inform future policy across government sectors.

New Mexico’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department also funds early childhood coalitions to provide input to the department regarding individual community need. In FY24 the agency will provide $3 million to support at least 15 coalitions. The coalitions provided needs assessments and strategic plans.

The Departments of Health and Human services also sponsor coalitions including public health coalitions and behavioral health coalitions. These help the state understand local public and behavioral health statewide.