NM center on law and poverty
 

Center News and Activities

 

Center continuing lawsuit against the state for Medicaid cutoffs:

The Center is continuing to press a lawsuit against the New Mexico Human Services Department for administrative practices that have resulted in over 150,000 people--mostly children--being thrown off Medicaid.  The suit, Valdez v. Hyde, seeks to stop the use of computer programs to automatically close Medicaid cases without caseworker review.  The suit alleges that this automatic closure system for Medicaid cases is unfairly, improperly and illegally cutting off eligible clients.  The case has recently been granted class action status.  A copy of the complaint is posted here. 
 

Read more about the impact of computers automatically closing Medicaid cases in this recent article from The Albuquerque Journal.  Also, click here to read an op-ed on the issue by the Center's Executive Director, also published in The Journal.
 

2006 New Mexico Legislative Session:


The New Mexico Legislature met between January 17th and February 16th this year.  Click here for a list of the Center's 2006 legislative priorities, and here for a list the outcomes of issues relating to poverty considered during the session.

 

Center files lawsuit against University of New Mexico Hospital over inadequate medical translation and interpretation services:

 

The Community Coalition for Healthcare Access, the NM Center on Law and Poverty and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico held a press conference on Friday, April 8th.  The Conference announced the filing of a lawsuit against the University of New Mexico Hospital for its failure to provide adequate interpretation and translation services to non-English speaking patients.  Click here for a copy of the full press release.

 

You may also access a copy of the complaint here and a summary of remarks made at the press conference here.

 

2005 New Mexico Legislative Session:

 

The New Mexico Legislature meets between January 18th and March 19th this year.  The Center on Law and Poverty had an active presence in Santa Fe throughout the session.  For a list of the Center's 2005 legislative priorities, click here.

 

If you would like to take one action that would most forward the needs of very low-income New Mexicans, click here.

 

Center comments on proposed revisions to state TANF plan:

 

The Center's comments on the New Mexico Human Services Department's proposed revisions to the New Mexico State TANF plan are now posted in the Resources section of our website.

 

Center files lawsuit against University of New Mexico Hospital seeking public records:

The Center has been collaborating with the Community Coalition for Healthcare Access (CCHA) to increase the availability of indigent health care services at the University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH).  On Tuesday, November 16, 2004, the Center filed a suit on behalf of the Coalition, seeking public information from UNMH.

We are asking that UH provide the public with the documents that they are required by law to divulge, in order to facilitate accountability. This request for public information is a part of a larger effort by the CCHA to increase access to health care for the uninsured and indigent population of Bernalillo County. We are seeking information regarding:

  • Expenditure of taxpayer dollars

  • Expenditures for Indigent care
  • Quality & Quantity of Interpretation Services
  • Quality of services to LEP & poor people—JCAHO & Press Ganey
  • Collections Actions against the poor and uninsured.

 

Members of the Community Coalition held a press conference to announce the lawsuit, followed by a protest at UNM Hospital. To download a copy of the press release from the event, click here. 

 

Pictures from the press conference and protest are also available:

Center Attorney Speaking

Protest at UNMH

Group of protestors at UNMH

Staff changes:

We are pleased to announce some important staff changes at the Center.  Gail Evans will serve as the Center's new Legal Director.  Ms. Evans has thirteen years of legal experience and five years of experience working with non-profit organizations providing services to very low-income individuals and families.

Ms. Evans earned her JD from the University of New Mexico's School of Law in 1991. She clerked for New Mexico Legal Aid for a summer, and for United States District Judge James Parker and the Georgetown Criminal Justice Clinic for two years each. She earned a Master of Laws degree from Georgetown University Law School in 1995. Afterwards, Ms. Evans practiced law with private New Mexico firms for five years, and with the NM Public Defender Department's Capital Crimes Division for more than four years. Immediately prior to taking our Legal Director position, she had been a Staff Attorney at the Center.

Center comments on proposed changes to Medicaid regulations:

 

The Center's comments on the New Mexico Human Services Department's proposed changes to Medicaid regulations are now posted in the Resources section of our website.

 

Statewide Legal Services Conference 2004:

 

The Center helped convene the annual Statewide Legal Services Conference in July 2004.  For more information on this event, including pictures taken during the training, please visit the Training section of our website.

 

New location:

The Center moved its office in January of 2004, to meet the needs of our growing staff.  We can now be found in the Nob Hill area of Albuquerque.  The new address is: 3117 Silver Avenue, SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.  All other contact information remains the same.

Recent accomplishments of the Center:

The Center has continued working closely with other advocacy organizations to coordinate efforts to minimize cuts to Medicaid benefits or eligibility.  In recent months, the Center testified against such cuts twice to each of the Legislative Finance Committee and the Health and Human Services Interim Committee. We also worked with a coalition of advocacy organizations to coordinate message and strategy and to generate media.

 

The Center worked with the Director of New Mexico’s Income Support Division and an advocate from New Mexico Legal Aid to identify and address problems with the delivery of public benefits services in the state.  The state now has a well-defined plan for significantly revising their General Assistance program, and the Center is monitoring its implementation.

 

At the request of the Income Support Division, the Center advised their communications campaign on how best to inform immigrants about changes in the Food Stamp program that made them eligible for the program.  Our comments were substantially incorporated into the campaign.  Furthermore, the Center took steps to address the problem of low income, immigrant victims of domestic violence being improperly denied TANF (welfare) benefits.  The Center, in conjunction with New Mexico Legal Aid and immigrant advocates, persuaded the Income Support Division to revise their Immigrant Eligibility Regulations. We then worked with the department to rewrite them and have monitored and supported implementation of the agreement.

 

The State Coverage Initiative is a proposal to use unspent money from the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to offer low income working adults health insurance.  The insurance that the proposal intended to offer failed to meet minimum state standards, and the co-pays and premiums required were, based upon experiences in other states, so high that most low-income individuals would be unlikely to participate in the plan.  The Center worked with other advocacy organizations to oppose and/or reform the measure.  The Center produced an analysis of the SCI proposal and distributed it to advocates; we provided written analysis of SCI to the Human Services department, emphasizing its impact on low income people; and we provided support to the Health Policy Task Force in devising recommendations on SCI.

 

When homeless people are arrested for minor infractions and brought to the police department, they generally have all their belongings in their possession. Until recently, the police were frequently losing or destroying those belongings in the arrest and incarceration process. Working with the Police Commission and the Police Department, and using public pressure via the media and other advocates, the Center succeeded in getting policies changed so the police treat belongings of homeless people in the same way as any other person’s. 

 

The Center has also led efforts to prevent implementation of a new panhandling ordinance in Albuquerque.  The ordinance, as passed by the Albuquerque City Council in January 2004, broadly prohibits all panhandling in certain sections of the city.  Prior to the implementation of the ordinance, a Staff Attorney for the Center, working in conjunction with a lawyer from the ACLU, secured a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent the ordinance from going into effect (ACLU-NM and Seagroves v. City of Albuquerque (2004)).  Currently, lawyers from the Center and ACLU are negotiating with the city to redraft the ordinance.

Staff Attorney Scott Cameron wrote an Op-ed for The Albuquerque Journal on the panhandling ordinance.  Click here to view the piece.   

Center publications:

A reminder about useful publications produced by the NM Center on Law and Poverty:

The 2003-4 New Mexico Legal Services Directory is now available in .doc format.

Download two pamphlets the Center produced for NM Legal aid on hearing rights with HSD and representing yourself at an HSD hearing, available in the Resources section.  Please feel to copy or distribute this information.

Download the Food Stamp Budget Worksheet in the resources section.  It is designed to help advocates and recipients see if they (or their clients) are eligible for Food Stamps, if they are eligible, how much they can get.  If they are already getting Food Stamps, this can help them be sure they are getting the right benefit.  This document is in Word format.  If you need it in another format, please e-mail the Center.  Please feel free to copy or distribute this information.

The latest edition of the "Know Your Rights" series of Pamphlets is available for download in the resources section, in both English and Spanish.  These pamphlets can be copied or redistributed. Our thanks go out to Kari Converse for doing the Spanish translation.