RSA-509 for FY-2016: Submission #106

State name New Mexico

Report through date 9/30/2016

General Information

Designated Agency Identification

Name Disability Rights New Mexico

Address 3916 Juan Tabo Blvd. NE

Address 2 {Empty}

City Albuquerque

State {Empty}

Zip Code 87111

E-mail Address info@drnm.org

Website Address http://www.drnm.org

Phone (505) 256-3100

TTY Phone (505) 256-3100

Toll-free Phone (800) 432-4682

Toll-free TTY Phone (800) 432-4682

Fax (505) 256-3184

Name of P&A Executive Director James Jackson

Name of PAIR Director/Coordinator James Jackson

Person to contact regarding report Bernadine Chavez

Contact Person phone (505) 256-3100

Contact Person phone ext 116

Part I. Non-Case Services

A. Individual Information and Referral Services (I&R)

1. Individuals receiving I&R within PAIR priority areas 320

2. Individuals receiving I&R outside PAIR priority areas 66

3. Total individuals receiving I&R (lines A1 + A2) 386

B. Training Activities

1. Number of trainings presented by PAIR staff 15

2. Number of individuals who attended training (approximate) 265

Training PAIR staff provided two trainings to 18 new staff persons working for the New Mexico Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (NMDVR) at the Rehabilitation Academy sponsored by NMDVR. The training topics included services provided by PAIR at DRNM and an overview of all titles of ADA . We also provided training on ADA to a support group for individuals with brain injuries.Staff provided training participants and advocates at New Mexico AIDS Services. The 24 participants were residents of a housing program for people living with AIDS and participants of a support group for persons living in the community. DRNM/PAIR staff provided 3 trainings to Albuquerque Transit (city bus) drivers on disability awareness, ADA requirements and how to provide quality services to individuals with disabilities.There were 20 participants at each training. DRNM/PAIR staff provided 6 trainings to parents and students on special education law and their rights under IDEA. Two of these trainings were in rural areas and were provided in Spanish to monolingual Spanish-speaking families. Three of these sessions were to Native American families, as part of our commitment to outreach to minorities and underserved communities. DRNM/PAIR provided two trainings to law enforcement personnel on disability awareness and ADA. We conducted one training for Bernalillo County Law enforcement and another training with the City of Santa Fe law enforcement. The training in Santa Fe was as a result of a young man with TBI being arrested due to his balance issues and not being able to complete a field sobriety test. The required training was part of a settlement agreement with the family. In summary, PAIR staff at DRNM conducted a total of 15 trainings with a total of 265 participants. DRNM/PAIR also participated in 15 informational fairs in which we distributed PAIR brochures and provided information to participants. Of the 15 fairs, 5 were targeted outreach to minorities and underserved populations.

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C. Information Disseminated to the Public

1. Radio and TV appearances by PAIR staff 0

2. Newspaper/magazine/journal articles 1

3. PSAs/videos aired 0

4. Hits on the PAIR/P&A website 1186

5. Publications/booklets/brochures disseminated 680

6. Other (specify separately) 100

Narrative PAIR staff developed a new brochure on service animals. The brochure was developed to address the large number of requests from the disability community. We mail these brochures to callers requesting information about their rights as a person who uses a service animal. We also offer this publication at conferences and fairs where DRNM/PAIR participates in informational booths.

Part II. Individuals Served

A. Individuals Served

1. Individuals still served as of October 1 (carryover from prior FY) 5

2. Additional individuals served during the year 34

3. Total individuals served (lines A1 + A2) 39

4. Individuals w. more than 1 case opened/closed during the FY. (Do not add this number to total on line A3 above.) 1

B. Individuals served as of September 30

Carryover to next FY may not exceed total on line II. A.3 above 10

C. Problem Areas/Complaints of Individuals Served

1. Architectural accessibility 1

2. Employment 0

3. Program access 1

4. Housing 2

5. Government benefits/services 2

6. Transportation 0

7. Education 13

8. Assistive technology 1

9. Voting 0

10. Health care 15

11. Insurance 0

12. Non-government services 1

13. Privacy rights 1

14. Access to records 0

15. Abuse 0

16. Neglect 1

17. Other 1

D. Reasons for Closing Individual Case Files

1. Issues resolved partially or completely in individual favor 23

2. Other representation found 1

3. Individual withdrew complaint 1

4. Appeals unsuccessful 3

5. PAIR Services not needed due to individual's death, relocation etc 0

6. PAIR withdrew from case 1

7. PAIR unable to take case because of lack of resources 1

8. Individual case lacks legal merit 0

9. Other 0

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E. Intervention Strategies Used in Serving Individuals

1. Technical assistance in self-advocacy 2

2. Short-term assistance 10

3. Investigation/monitoring 0

4. Negotiation 8

5. Mediation/alternative dispute resolution 1

6. Administrative hearings 8

7. Litigation 2

8. Systemic/policy activities 0

Part III. Statistical Information on Individuals Served

A. Age of Individuals Served as of October 1

1. 0 - 4 0

2. 5 - 22 15

3. 23 - 59 12

4. 60 - 64 4

5. 65 and over 8

B. Gender of Individuals Served

1. Females 23

2. Males 16

C. Race/Ethnicity of Individuals Served

1. Hispanic/Latino of any race 22

2. American Indian or Alaskan Native 2

3. Asian 1

4. Black or African American 1

5. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0

6. White 13

7. Two or more races 0

8. Race/ethnicity unknown 0

D. Living Arrangements of Individuals Served

1. Independent 18

2. Parental or other family home 15

3. Community residential home 1

4. Foster care 1

5. Nursing home 2

6. Public institutional living arrangement 0

7. Private institutional living arrangement 2

8. Jail/prison/detention center 0

9. Homeless 0

10. Other living arrangements 0

11. Living arrangements not known 0

E. Primary Disability of Individuals Served

2. Deaf/hard of hearing 2

4. Orthopedic impairment 4

5. Mental illness 1

6. Substance abuse 0

7. Mental retardation 2

8. Learning disability 11

9. Neurological impairment 5

10. Respiratory impairment 0

11. Heart/other circulatory impairment 4

12. Muscular/skeletal impairment 2

13. Speech impairment 1

14. AIDS/HIV 0

15. Traumatic brain injury 2

16. Other disability 3

Part IV. Systemic Activities and Litigation

A. Systemic Activities

1. Number of policies/practices changed as a result of non-litigation systemic activities 2

2. Number of individuals potentially impacted by policy changes 20000

Describe your systemic activities. The New Mexico Medicaid system was transformed in 2014 in ways that dramatically changed the provision of long-term services (LTS) home- and community-based services (HCBS). People with disabilities qualifying for the nursing facility level of care can now receive a variety of LTS or HCBS through Community Benefit" services, without having to be in a "waiver slot". These services are administered as either Agency Based Community Benefits (ABCB) or Self-Directed Community Benefits (SDCB).The legal structure for both ABCB and SDCB starts with a Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CNA). This CNA is to determine the full array of services the participant needs. The menu of services available includes 14 different ABCB services and 23 SDCB services.In practice, however, the CNA has not been "Comprehensive" at all. In the vast majority of cases, the assessment used for this purpose by the Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) that plan and provide these services under contract to the state has excluded all but one ABCB service (Personal Care Services, or PCS) and all but one SDCB service (named the Homemaker service, which in practice is identical to ABCB's PCS). Very few participants were able to access any of the other services to which they are entitled.During the initial transition year of 2014, the MCOs implementing ABCB and SDCB allowed most participants to utilize a larger budget than they were assessed through the CNA, and as a consequence PAIR/DRNM didn't begin to see the problems arise until 2015. We began to address the problem aggressively, and we were able to see successes on numerous individual cases. Throughout FY2016 we continued to work successfully on individual cases, but also asserted our impact through systemic efforts. In FY2016 we testified at legislative committee hearings, and engaged in negotiations with both the MCOs and New Mexico's Human Services Department (HSD), the state entity that operates Medicaid.As a result, PAIR/DRNM was able to win a commitment from HSD to require the MCOs to supplement the CNA to include questions specific to the all of the available ABCB and SDCB services, and these questions would lead to actual service requests for participants needing them. We contributed to the development of this supplemental questionnaire for the CNA. PAIR/DRNM oversaw the piloted administration of this new and improved, and truly "Comprehensive," CNA through the late part of FY2016. HSD and the MCOs have committed to utilize this full and legally acceptable CNA to all ABCB and SDCB participants early in FY2017.We are aware that problems with the CNA will remain, and PAIR/DRNM certainly expects to continue to work on many individual cases regarding disputes over the correct implementation of the CNA. However, we are pleased that all participants will have the opportunity to qualify for the full array of services to meet their needs. Many thousands of people with disabilities will receive these services that had"

B. Litigation/Class Actions

1. Number of individuals potentially impacted by changes as a result of PAIR litigation/class action efforts 0

2. Number of individuals named in class actions 0

Describe your litigation/class action activities. None this year.

Part V. PAIR'S Priorities and Objectives

A. Priorities and Objectives for the Fiscal Year Covered by this Report

For each of your PAIR program priorities for the fiscal year covered by this report, please:

Identify and describe priority.
Identify the need, issue or barrier addressed by this priority.
Identify and describe indicators PAIR used to determine successful outcome of activities pursued under this priority.
Explain whether pursuing this priority involved collaborative efforts by other entities. If so, describe this collaboration.
Provide the number of cases handled under the priority. Indicate how many of these, if any, were class actions.
Provide at least one case summary that demonstrates the impact of the priority.

Priorities and Objectives Priority A. Investigate allegations of abuse and neglect.1. Decrease the abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disabilities by improving the practices of programs and facilities in congregate settings for people with disabilities and/or where there are significant allegations of abuse, neglect or exploitation2. Individuals with disabilities are subject to abuse or neglect at a higher rate than non-disabled individuals, and addressing allegations of abuse or neglect is a core function of protection and advocacy agencies.3. Indicator: Conduct investigations of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect where there appears to be a pattern or recurrence of significant abuse or neglect, where there has been a death or life-threatening injury, or where the alleged abuse or neglect is particularly egregious, and produce reports/recommendations as appropriate.4 . Collaboration: DRNM encourages other agencies and organizations to make referrals to us. We typically conduct investigations on our own, but in some circumstances we attempt to collaborate with Childrens Protective Services or Adult Protective Services.5. The referrals we received and the investigations we conducted in FY 2016 involved persons with developmental disabilities or mental illness who were not eligible for PAIR services. We did not have any PAIR cases in this priority this year.6. Case summary: N/APriority B Facilitate access to community-based services1. Advocate for persons with disabilities to have appropriate services and facilitate access to community-based services.2. Medicaid-supported community-based services allow persons with significant disabilities to live in and interact with their communities and avoid nursing home placement, but the level of services offered is often inadequate for the needs of the client.3. Indicator: The number of cases in which PAIR assisted individuals in need of long term services, including those who choose to self-direct services, who have been denied access to such services, or for whom the level of services offered or provided is grossly inadequate.4. Collaboration: DRNM collaborated with many other agencies in conjunction with this priority. We informed other legal service agencies and other disability advocacy organizations about our work and accepted referrals from them. This was reinforced by our collaborative efforts with other disability groups to promote systemic changes related to these services.5. PAIR staff worked on 14 cases under this objective.6. Case example: A 53-year-old client who has diabetes with complications including heart and respiratory conditions, renal failure and toe amputations contacted DRNM when her Personal Care hours through the states Centennial Care agency-based community benefit program were reduced from 28 to 13.5. She had recently been told she needed a kidney transplant. The client had already lost an appeal of the reduction before she contacted us. DRNM agreed to represent her in a

B. Priorities and Objectives for the Current Fiscal Year

Please include a statement of priorities and objectives for the current fiscal year (the fiscal year succeeding that covered by this report), which should contain the following information:

a statement of each prioirty;
the need addressed by each priority; and;
a description of the activities to be carried out under each priority.

B. Priorities and Objectives for the Current Fiscal Year Priority A1. Conduct investigations of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect where there appears to be a pattern or recurrence of significant abuse or neglect, where there has been a death or life-threatening injury, or where the alleged abuse or neglect is particularly egregious, and produce reports/recommendations as appropriate.2. Individuals with disabilities are subject to abuse or neglect at a higher rate than non-disabled individuals, and addressing allegations of abuse or neglect is a core function of protection and advocacy agencies.3. Conduct investigations of alleged or suspected abuse or neglect where there appears to be a pattern or recurrence of significant abuse or neglect, where there has been a death or life-threatening injury, or where the alleged abuse or neglect is particularly egregious, and produce reports/recommendations as appropriate.Priority B1. Pursue personal injury, wrongful death or serious civil rights violation litigation where there is a clear opportunity to improve the practices of a provider or public service agency, private co-counsel is available, and fees may be available.2. Often time individuals are harmed by a lack of poor services, a denial of services, or neglect of the needs of individuals with disabilities.3. PAIR staff will look at cases where there is clear opportunity to improve the practices of a provider or public service agency.Priority C1. Assist individuals in need of long term or other community-based services, including those who choose to self-direct services, who have been denied access to such services, or for whom the level of services offered or provided is grossly inadequate.2. Medicaid-supported community-based services allow persons with significant disabilities to live in and interact with their communities and avoid nursing home placement, but thelevel of services offered is often inadequate for the needs of the client.3. PAIR will advocate for individuals in need of long term community-based services, including those who choose to self-direct services, who have been denied access to such services, or for whom the level of services offered or provided is grossly inadequate.Priority D1.Self-determination - Persons with disabilities have control over the decisions that affect them.2. Promote the right of individuals with disabilities to make their own decisions as much as possible, including the use of processes such as Supportive Decision-Making. Where substitute decision-making is necessary, promote the least restrictive level and form.3. Provide assistance to protected persons with a Representative Payee or under guardianship, including treatment guardianship, where the Representative Payee or guardian appears to:be arbitrary or non-responsive to the reasonable preferences of the protected person,abuse their authority, orfail to meet their fiduciary responsibilitiesPriority E1. Special education under IDEA and equal access under section 504 to facili

Part VI. Narrative

Narrative

At a minimum, you must include all of the information requested. You may include any other information, not otherwise collected on this reporting form that would be helpful in describing the extent of PAIR activities during the prior fiscal year. Please limit the narrative portion of this report, including attachments, to 20 pages or less.

The narrative should contain the following information. The instructions for this form outline the information that should be contained in each section.

Sources of funds received and expended
Budget for the fiscal year covered by this report
Outline the budget for the fiscal year covered by the report (prior fiscal year), as well as a projection for the current fiscal year. Be sure to include a breakdown of dollars expended/allotted for: administrative costs (i.e., personnel salaries, equipment, etc.); services to individuals; and other expenses (i.e., staff training, travel, etc.)
Description of PAIR staff (duties and person-years)
Involvement with advisory boards (if any)
Grievances filed under the grievance procedure
Coordination with the Client Assistance Program (CAP) and the State long-term care program, if these programs are not part of the P&A agency

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Certification

Signed

Signed? Yes

Signed by James Jackson

Title CEO

Signed date Mon, 12/26/2016 - 00:00

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