A 15,000 square-foot structure in Albuquerque that formerly housed the Tierra Adentro of New Mexico Charter School could be re-purposed as a teen housing facility. The Tucson-based Vision Quest has said that it wants to use the one- and two-story structure located at 1511 Central Avenue SE as a shelter for up to sixty boys ranging in age from 11 to 17. Those boys, having entered the U.S. lacking an authorized guardian, would come to the shelter through the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement. The Central Avenue structure, which was built in the late 1940s and subsequently modernized, has been vacant since the charter school moved its facilities to the city’s Sawmill District last year. Vision Quest’s plans for the building may be complicated by an announcement made by the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department saying that the non-profit had not adequately responded to earlier reports of children in its care being both neglected and abused. Vision Quest, which has already submitted a licensing application to the City of Albuquerque for the new shelter, has said it will respond to the CYFD letter shortly. Opened in 1973, Vision Quest operates residential facilities in Arizona, Florida, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. By Garry Boulard
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