The complexity and uniqueness of care giving for aging, incapacitated or developmentally disabled adults stretches beyond the boundaries of any single specialty area. The Adult Services program employs a multi-disciplinary approach to care giving that connects individuals and families with the services of an integrated team of social workers, medical and mental health providers, financial planners and attorneys.

Assessment, case planning and care coordination occurs in a collaborative manner which seeks to more adequately support families, develop new approaches to transitional care issues and increase awareness of the transitions experienced by family members. Using a sliding fee for service approach, our staff is available to individuals and families seeking assistance in any of the following or related areas:

• Comprehensive social, mental health, legal and financial needs assessments.
• Preparation of a service plan.
• Linkage to existing services; consulting; education; and service coordination.
• Case management coordina-tion and advocacy.
• Care givers assistance and outpatient counseling services.
• Fiduciary services, including corporate guardianship and conservatorship; health care and financial power of attorney; court visitor; treatment guardian; daily money man-agement; assistance and advocacy with benefits and man-aged care.

During the past fiscal year, Adult Services served a total of 70 clients, plus their various family members and interested parties, in one or more of these ways. The program is currently providing service to a caseload of 58 indi-viduals and their family members.

In addition, the staff served as Court Visitor for four cases.

Services provided to our con-servatorship clients and those re-ceiving financial management have been improved. Now all cli-ent expenses and bills are managed by staff within the program, rather than relying on outside contractors, as in the past. This has resulted in a less costly and more efficient system for clients and makes re-porting and advocacy more timely.

Over the past fiscal year, Adult Services has embarked on some substantial projects involving col-laboration with other community providers in the guardianship arena. One such effort involves helping to organize and establish a state guardianship association, which also will be an affiliate of the National Guardianship Asso-ciation. A major goal of the state association is to help increase the quality of guardianship services provided throughout the State of New Mexico.

Another project Adult Services is helping to initiate, complemen-tary to the first, involves working with the Court system to improve the tracking of guardianships and to establish a system of oversight and monitoring of guardians. The goal of this process is to increase the quality of care for individual wards and to prevent the misuse of guardianship authority, whether by a family member or a professional.

Although Adult Services receives no public funding and relies on client fees to meet operating expenses, the

department was urged to accept a major case involving three developmentally disabled women who have no financial resources. The history and circumstances of their cases and the urgency and depth of their current needs compelled La Familia to accept this responsibility. A final resolution is expected in 2005.

Adult Services continues to research and apply for additional sources of funding so that more clients can be served, regardless of their ability to pay. To date, these efforts have met with minimal success. The staff remains hopeful that this trend will reverse in the future, since many of the clients are among the most vulnerable adults and elders in New Mexico.

During this fiscal year, La Familia’s Board of Directors approved the creation of a new program for deaf adolescent boys: the La Familia Deaf Group Home. Due to the increasing need for post-RTC (residential treatment center) extended care for deaf teenagers, boys in particular, Southwest Services for the Deaf and Community Outreach for the Deaf urged La Familia to consider filling this need.

The house was purchased in May, 2002, and renovations began immediately. The Deaf Group Home is scheduled to open in October 2003 and will have capacity for eight residents.

Special licensing from the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department was obtained in July, 2003. The zoning permit from the City of Albuquerque Planning and Zoning Department was obtained in January, 2003.