San Luis Valley Behavioral Health Group describes outreach to migrant worker camps and potato warehouses

Leoba Mascarinas, chief program officer at San Luis Valley Behavioral Health Group, told the Ag Behavioral Health Working Group that her agency provides a broad array of services and has adapted outreach to reach seasonal agricultural workers and other rural residents.

"We used to go out on our RV and provide therapy services on the side of the field," Mascarinas said, describing a shift after the organization retired its mobile RV because maintenance costs were too high. Now, staff visit migrant housing in the evenings and set up laptops during workers' lunch hours in potato warehouses to provide initial screenings, case management, Medicaid enrollment assistance and parenting classes. "We are at capacity right now. We actually have a waiting list," she said, describing demand across the valley.

Services Mascarinas listed include SafeCare Colorado (in‑home services for birth–5), Promoting Safe and Stable Families (PSSF), Child First (a team‑based home model currently undergoing accreditation), school‑based teams across the San Luis Valley (including Creede), telehealth psychiatry and outpatient substance‑use programming. She described walk‑in crisis support through the Mia Esperanza wellness center, intensive case management, assertive community treatment, and outpatient restoration and DUI services connected to criminal justice requirements.

Why it matters: agricultural workers face time and transportation barriers to clinic care; on‑site outreach in camps and warehouses can identify needs and link people to services quickly. Mascarinas asked for follow‑up interest and said she would share slides and the presentation with the group for wider distribution.

Next steps: Rosie Scovern (Colorado Department of Agriculture) said she would distribute the slide deck and the working group's meeting minutes so the public and absent partners can review the program materials.