Albuquerque City Council earmarks $800,000 for sober living pilot program

The Albuquerque City Council unanimously voted to use more than $800,000 in opioid settlement funds to create a 12-month sobriety housing program.

The pilot project, sponsored by Councilor Renée Grout, aims to transition people experiencing homelessness and addiction from detox facilities into permanent housing after a year of support.

"As soon as we announced this program, we heard from people who want to participate," Grout said in a statement Monday. "This isn't just about providing a roof; it’s about providing the right environment for long-term recovery."

Grout's district encompasses the Southeast Heights and foothills, as well as parts of East Central, where open-air drug use and trafficking have been ongoing issues, according to law enforcement.

The pilot program will not be a detox center itself, though it will accept people leaving rehabilitation facilities like the city's medical sobering facility or Bernalillo County's CARE campus.

The project aims to bridge the gap between rehab and permanent housing by using funds won from several pharmaceutical companies widely blamed for the opioid epidemic.

Those funds, which amount to approximately $1 billion, are a part of a settlement between the state and several pharmaceutical companies that made or sold addictive narcotic painkillers in New Mexico. 

With this money in place, the project will not draw from the city's general fund, which is a pool of taxpayer dollars.

However, details on the project’s rollout are scant, given that the resolution only directs the city’s Health, Housing and Homelessness department to develop a program, but offers no strict timeline.

The resolution does have some requirements, though.

For example, the program must take in 25 people in its first year. Those people will then receive temporary housing, case management and peer and clinical support for the project's duration.

Once that time is up, people will be transitioned to permanent housing, although they may receive ongoing support in case of relapse, according to a news release on the resolution.

The resolution also directs the staff at the Gateway, the city’s network of homeless shelters, to begin looking for participants.

The HHH Department applauded the City Council on the appropriation Tuesday. 

"The evidence is clear: people in recovery are far more likely to sustain sobriety when they have safe, stable housing paired with supportive services," said city spokesperson Dan Mayfield in a statement. "Our Department worked closely with Councilor Grout to design a program that invests in recovery-oriented housing which translates into creating real pathways for long-term stability."

Pending results from the trial period, the City Council will have to vote again in 2027 to decide whether to fund the project in perpetuity.

Gillian Barkhurst is the local government reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com.