WELCOME!

Today, July 26th, is the 20th year anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act. A celebration was held at the Center for Development and Disability. Jim Parker from the New Mexico Governor's Commission for Disabilites spearheaded the celebration . Art Schreiber hosted the event with several speakers from around our state. Linda Gonzales is pictured below. She was one of the first directors of New Vistas, an independent living center in Santa Fe. Advocates spoke about the history of our own efforts to change and improve services in New Mexico. It was wonderful to see the people who have worked so hard to make the changes for people with disabilities in New Mexico.

What are the needs of people with disabilities in New Mexico?

Every year we solicit public input from the community for our priority planning. Please take a few minutes and tell us about the most important issues to you at this time. Your feedback will be included in the development of our work plan for the 2011 fiscal year.

If you need additional copies or would like to assist DRNM in the distribution of the surveys, please call Leslye Sneider, our Planning Coordinator, at (505) 256-3100.

You can review a copy of the priorities or print a survey and mail it in or bring it in to our office.

DRNM is the new name of the organization formerly known as Protection and Advocacy System (P&A). In 2009, in conjunction with the celebration of its 30th anniversary, P&A changed its name to Disability Rights New Mexico. We believe the new name quickly and clearly tells the story of who we are and what we do.

DRNM is still the designated protection and advocacy program for the state of New Mexico. Our mission remains the same: to promote, protect and expand the legal and civil rights of persons with disabilities.

Over the past 30 years, we’ve been involved in about every major policy issue in the state that affects persons with disabilities, often in a leadership role, and we’ve helped thousands of New Mexicans to access services or resolve other problems related to their disability. As DRNM, we look forward to working with you to address the issues and concerns currently facing New Mexicans with disabilities.

Linda Gonzales,Advocate

This Month

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Current News!

Check Legislative reports (Post Legislative Session Report is in).

The good news is that the proposed funding levels for Medicaid and the DD waiver in the negotiated agreement, reflected in the latest version of HB 2, are the same as in the Senate version from the regular legislative session. This includes $2.25 million in new money for the DD waiver (to take people off the waiting list) and enough money so that no further cuts are made in the Medicaid program.