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Map of Rio Arriba County service area

Rio Arriba County,
New Mexico

Population: 39,159

Service Area: Rio Arriba County


Rio Arriba County Health and Human Services (RACHHS), located in New Mexico, serves the county covering an area of 5,861 square miles (roughly the size of Connecticut), with 85 percent of the county classified as frontier, and leads the state in overdose rates nearly four times higher than the state rate. RACHHS collaborated with state and local agencies to identify former clients who had experienced an overdose, reconnect with those clients, and engage them in services as needed; this collaboration and proactive outreach led to a 30 percent reduction in overdoses. RACHHS also worked with a district court judge to implement a program for individuals with SUD to work with a certified peer support worker and regularly engage with the judge rather than being booked into jail or placed on probation. With more than 30 clients in the program, the recidivism rate has dropped significantly compared to individuals not in this program.