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NEW MEXICO TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS AT SCHOOL FOR THE VISUALLY

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Visually impaired students attending the New Mexico School for the Visually Handicapped will receive improved services related to their disabilities, under an agreement reached today with the Justice Department.

The agreement, filed with a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico, resolves allegations that the school failed to provide adequate services to visually impaired students. As a result of the agreement, the school will take immediate steps to upgrade its instructional program for students with visual impairments, including providing Braille instruction and orientation and mobility training. In addition, the school will improve mental health, behavioral, and substance abuse services to school students.

"It is very important that we protect the rights of visually impaired students and ensure that they receive necessary services," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "We are very pleased with today's agreement and look forward to continuing to work in the same spirit of cooperation to accomplish improved services at the New Mexico School for the Visually Handicapped."

The Justice Department began investigating the school in 1997 under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) after receiving complaints about conditions at the school. Under CRIPA, the Justice Department has the authority to investigate public institutions, including residential schools, to ensure that residents are receiving adequate care and treatment.

"I am delighted that this matter has been resolved amicably," said John J. Kelly, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico. "The United States Attorney's Office is committed to protecting and enforcing the civil rights of all New Mexicans, including the rights of visually handicapped children. This settlement is an excellent resolution for all citizens of New Mexico."

Under the agreement, the state and school will:

provide Braille instruction to all students who need it and hire as many Braille instructors as are needed;

provide orientation and mobility instruction to all students who need this training in order to enable students to navigate as independently as possible;

give replacement eyeglasses to any student who misplaces, damages or destroys his or her eyeglasses;

hire mental health professionals to provide counseling to students;

ensure that students needing emergency psychiatric care are treated promptly by a psychiatrist or other medical doctor;

ensure that all reports of abuse and neglect are reported and adequately investigated; and,

form an Advisory Council of parents, students, and school alumni to provide input to the School's Board of Regents.

In addition to today's agreement, which must be approved by the Court, the state and the school will commission a study to determine whether students at the school, as well as other blind and visually impaired students in the state, can be appropriately educated in their local public schools through the use of outreach educators employed by the school.

If approved by the court, the settlement resolves the lawsuit also filed today.

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