Disability Rights New Mexico

Paimi - protection and advocacy for individuals with mental illness: in this program, drnm provided advocacy to 106 individuals with severe mental illness. Over 62% of these individuals were from minority communities and underserved areas and about two-thirds were in residential mental health facilities at the time. Problems addressed in these cases included alleged abuse, neglect, (including lack of adequate or appropriate treatment services), or other rights violations due to a mental health diagnosis. Drnm conducted at least 28 public trainings and staffed 6 outreach events for paimi in around the state. Drnm staff worked on the following individual and systemic issues: 1.mental health facility monitoring 2.investigations of abuse/neglect 3.seclusion/restraint (including physical and chemical restraint) 4.guardianship and treatment guardianship issues 5.appropriate discharge planning 6.rights of individuals in in-patient mental health facilities 7.access to community-based services 8.rights based individual advocacy 9.board and care facilities monitoring

Pair - protection and advocacy for individual rights: the pair program at drnm serves individuals who have disabilities other than mental illness or developmental disabilities. Drnm assisted 92 individuals and provided information and referral (i&r) to 137 callers in this program fiscal year, addressing accessibility problems, housing discrimination, barriers in accessing needed health care and support services as well as allegations of abuse or neglect. Pair staff also conducted trainings on disability services, healthcare, employment, public access and the rights of persons with disabilities. Drnm had a total of 590 individuals receiving training or information on legal rights. Drnm provided information and training on expanded opportunities to access in the following areas: 1.investigations of abuse/neglect 2.rights based advocacy 3.access to community-based services 4.access to appropriate special education services 5.public access under ada 6.appropriate access to medicaid self-directed programs 7.access to accessible housing 8.employment and reasonable accommodations

Drnm filed a class action case, duggan v. Adelante development center..with other litigation partners, drnm represented 237 individuals with disabilities who had been paid sub-minimum wages when employed by adelante development center. This class lawsuit was successfully settled with class members receiving compensation for multiple years of underpaid wages. Drnm filed an action, drnm v. New mexico corrections department (nmcd). Drnm was named plaintiff on behalf of our constituents, and also served as co-counsel along with community partners, in this lawsuit to compel the state prison system to make medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder available to prisoners, which will increase healthcare outcomes and reduce recidivism upon release. Drnm filed a class action case, m.g. V. Armijo (nm health care authority). On behalf of 250 children participating in the n.m. Medically-fragile medicaid waiver, drnm sued new mexico's human services department for its failure to deliver life-saving private duty nursing services. These services allow children, often born with terminal medical conditions, the dignity to live at home with their families instead of being institutionalized in facilities. Federal medicaid rules require that new mexico offers private duty nursing services, but for many years the state has failed to adequately fund these positions. This case is currently in litigation. Drnm filed a class action case, kevin s., et al. V. Blalock, et al. (nm cyfd and nm hsd). On behalf of 4,700 children and youth in state custody, drnm and partners sued cyfd and hsd for its failure to adequately provide essential care, stability, treatment, and support for this vulnerable population. The experiences of the kevin s. Plaintiffs painfully illustrated that children in state custody in new mexico are repeatedly re-traumatized by being uprooted and cycled in and out of short-term emergency placements, such as homeless shelters, government offices, and residential treatment centers. This groundbreaking case was settled, with monitoring and implementation by all parties continuing to the present day. Drnm began participating as a stakeholder on the advisory council of new mexico start, a new program at the new mexico center for development and disability implementing the successful national start model. Start is an evidence-based, community crisis prevention and intervention service model for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities with complex mental health and behavioral needs. The program's advisory council exists to establish connections and working relationships between nm start and numerous stakeholders, review program outcomes, and provide linkages to state systems and providers to improve access for nm start participants. Drnm voting team worked with the secretary of state's office to collaborate with dominion voting systems in order to ensure access to accessible voting machines for outreach and demonstration purposes. Dominion will now provide an accessible machine for drnm to use anywhere in the state in order to demonstrate the use of the machine and spread awareness on voting options for individuals with disabilities. As a result, drnm has been able to demonstrate the accessible voting machine more frequently and asked to provide multiple focused trainings on voting rights and how to use the machine.