New Mexico Judicial Wellness Program

Member Services New Mexico Judicial Wellness Program

New Mexico Judicial Wellness Program

Mission Statement

New Mexico Judicial Wellness Program promotes and optimizes health and wellness among New Mexico Judges by creating and facilitating educational programs and offering resources and services which provide a supportive environment for our judiciary in order to restore and maintain ones overall mental, physical, and spiritual health.

In recognizing the challenges in these unprecedented times and taking into account the results of the 2019 National Judicial Survey (see page 10), the State Bar of New Mexico Well-Being Committee created a Judicial Well-Being Sub-Committee in August, 2020. The Judicial Well-Being Sub-Committee immediately focused on bringing some much needed hope, support, encouragement and education to the NM Judicial Community by creating JWell Now.

JWell Now is the proactive part of an overall Judicial Wellness Program that focuses on and brings attention to the importance of judicial self-care through education in various formats and vehicles of proliferation, support groups, outreach, and available resources and services. The reactive part of this overall Judicial Wellness Program is termed JCall Now, which will focus on providing a much needed safe and confidential resource for judges to connect with when they find themselves struggling and want or need help.

In establishing a Judicial Wellness Program, the JW Sub-Committee proposed a roll-out of the identified goals and initiatives in three phases to aid in focusing on the short term and long term needs of the NM Judicial Community.

Overall, New Mexico Judicial Wellness Program was created to promote health and wellness among New Mexico Judges by creating and facilitating programs (educational or otherwise) and practices that encourage a supportive environment for the restoration and maintenance of overall mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health.

The Initiative Behind the Judicial Wellness Program

To create a culture change within the NM Judiciary that decreases the stigma surrounding a Judge reaching out to ask for help for any mental or behavioral health struggle.

To create a safe, confidential program for judges to connect with where they can receive the help and support they need without job related consequences being attached to the connection.

To achieve sustainable progress on judicial wellness, this will in turn strengthen the NM Judiciary Community.

Confidentiality

The N.M. Rules of Professional Conduct (Rule 16-803) and the N.M. Code of Judicial Conduct (Rule 21-300) provide strict confidentiality for individuals seeking assistance from the JWP. All communications and actions taken by JWP with its clients are held in the strict-est confidence and are not reported to any individual or entity outside of JWP, including any professional disciplinary agency, without the client’s permission. Likewise, the identities of individuals who contact JWP with concerns about a legal professional are confidential and not disclosed to anybody including the person referred.

Confidential Helpline Number: Judges call 505-797-6097

Dual Elements of the Judicial Wellness Program

The proactive element is JWell Now which focuses on directing attention to the importance of judicial self-care through education in various formats. Such formats include, but are not limited to presentation, outreach, support groups, resources and other well-being services. The responsive element is JCall Now, which focuses on providing a much needed safe and confidential resource for judges to connect when they find themselves struggling and want or need support.

NM Judicial Wellness Program Gets a National Mention:

Judge Paves Way for Others With Mental Health Disclosure

Mentor Coaching for New Mexico Judges Survey Preliminary Findings

The survey had a total response rate of 46%, with 145 total participants. Probate judges are the group that responded with the highest response rate, followed by Metro.
The largest share of respondents was judges on the bench for 3-8 years (40%), followed by judges on the bench for 0-2 years (23%).
The majority of survey participants (96%) believe that a Mentor Coaching Program would be useful. All six judges that did not agree that the program would be useful were judges 3-8 years into their judicial career.
Although almost all respondents stated that the program would be useful at the beginning of their career, only 68% indicated that the program would be useful at the current point in their career. The majority (91%) of the judges with the 0-2 years on the bench stated the program would be useful.
Isolation on the job was the challenge most often selected, followed by handling difficult personalities and managing stressors.
Judges with 3-8 years on the bench reported the overall highest number of challenges were isolation followed by handling difficult personalities with staff, self-represented litigants, attorneys.

View the Full Survey