Disability Rights New Mexico

“During the year ended september 30, 2024, the organization was the target of a cyber theft which resulted in the loss of 217,402 in cash payment for program service revenues related to litigation services. The incident was reported to local and national law enforcement. However, due to the unlikelihood of future recovery, the loss has been recognized in the financial statements.”

“The form 990 is prepared by the independent auditor, and the draft is reviewed by the executive director, the chief financial officer, and all board members prior to filing with the irs.”

“The conflict of interest policy is reviewed every year in january. Board members are required to complete and/or update the conflict of interest form. At that time potential conflicts of interest are reviewed and discussed at board meetings, as applicable.”

“The board of directors perdiodically reviews and documents compensation levels for ceos of other similar organizations as part of due diligence with respect to compensation and benefit levels. Compensation levels for other staff are determined by the ceo, not the board. However, pursuant to organizational policy, information on salaries and benefits paid for comparable agencies is periodically reviewed, and staff salaries are occasionally adjusted based on such review.”

“The organization's governing documents are available upon request. Financial information is included in the form 990, which is also available upon request. Basic information about the organization, its services, and funding sources is provided through the organization's website at www.drnm.org.”

“The board of directors serve in a voluntary capacity.”

“Padd - protection and advocacy for individuals with developmental disabilities: in this program area, drnm provided legal advocacy services to 159 individuals with developmental disabilities or their families to overcome barriers to accessing the services they needed; to investigate and resolve abuse or neglect, or address other violations of their legal rights. Over 60% of these individuals were from minority or underserved communities. Drnm continues to work on individual cases and systemic legal rights issues for persons with developmental disabilities. Drnm padd staff provided 8 trainings and staffed 10 informational booths at conferences and other events. There were 268 persons that received training. Some of the issues that drnm worked on this period were: 1.investigations of abuse/neglect 2.restrictive guardianship/representative payee issues 3.rights based individual's advocacy 4.competitive, inclusive employment, that eliminates sub-minimum wage. 5.reasonable accommodations under title i ada 6.access to community-based services 7.access to appropriate special education services 8.access to higher education and accommodations”

“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.”