Bernalillo County's Resource Reentry Center helps people leaving jail -- here's how

Before the Resource Reentry Center opened in 2018, people being released from the Metropolitan Detention Center — the Bernalillo County jail 20 miles outside of Albuquerque — often were dropped off Downtown at the corner of Fourth and Roma, said Sarah Spain, the transition planning services manager.

“MDC releases 24/7. So, these were folks getting out at 1 p.m. or 3 in the morning, maybe had a phone, maybe didn’t. No access to services. A downtown in any city is not safe. The same goes for Albuquerque,” Spain said.

People were released at a transit shelter with a pay phone that worked inconsistently, said Pam Acosta, behavioral health initiatives senior manager.

The Resource Reentry Center is an answer to that problem and is meant to help connect people coming out of jail with resources they might need.

Almost everyone who is released from MDC comes to the reentry center in downtown Albuquerque, located in the same building as the prisoner transport unit where people are booked into jail.

A small percentage of people go straight to a hospital or have family pick them up from the jail, Spain said.

What’s inside the reentry center?

People are dropped off in a gated parking lot and greeted by a reentry center staff member.

“We want this to be very well known that, all right, you are no longer in custody,” Spain said. “You are now reentering the community, and so we make sure to greet everybody by their first name. Let them know where they’re located, because you were just in a white van for 30 minutes with no windows and you might not know.”

Inside is a colorful lounge with a television, a cellphone charging station, fresh coffee, sandwiches, restrooms, phones, a line of three computers that people can use to reach friends or family through social media messaging, clothing and lots of information.

There is information on DWIs, Narcan, housing programs, public defenders, GED programs, bus schedules, emergency shelters and even the Mexican Consulate.

The center is open around the clock. At 10 p.m., lights are turned down and cots are put out for people who get released at night and want to wait until morning before they figure out where to go next.

Often, resource reentry center staff have an idea of what kind of services someone might need long before they arrive. Discharge planning starts when someone is booked into the jail with a risk and needs evaluation that considers factors like substance use and mental health.

Someone with low to moderate risk and needs would work with an informal discharge team of social service coordinators who would help fill out applications and referrals. Someone with a moderate to high risk and needs would work with the University of New Mexico Hospital transition planning team and create a formal needs assessment to try and figure out details such as where they will live, what kind of support they have and what behavioral health needs they have, Spain said.

An hour before someone is released, the resource reentry staff is notified and starts researching to figure out if the person needs to get connected to court or social services and whether they need transportation somewhere. If the person being released needs to go to District Court or Metropolitan Court pretrial services, Resource Reentry Center staff can escort them there to check-in.

“We do see a lot of clients that are detoxing coming through,” Spain said. “I think everybody knows how much of an issue that fentanyl is right now.”

At times, reentry center staff drive people directly to detox services like the CARE Campus or a hospital.

Someone who is being released from MDC who was on life-sustaining or psychiatric medication can get a free 14-day prescription and a ride to pick up their medications from the pharmacy, Spain said.

Using the reentry center is voluntary. Someone released from the jail has to walk through the reentry center but is under no obligation to stay. About 86% of people who come through will stay and get at least one service, and 70% engage with the case management team, Spain said.

When the reentry center opened, the engagement rate was only 16%, Acosta said.

“Originally, this was just set up as a safe place for folks to make a phone call, wait for a ride, just be safe,” Acosta said. “Since then, we have really enhanced and incorporated that whole transition planning ... and that has increased our engagement rate.”