Oct. 24—Only one person showed up Thursday for a public hearing on a proposal from the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department to relax requirements for potential employees of agencies that contract with the department.
MaryEllen Garcia, CEO of the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence, testified in favor of the change, which would make people with prior felony convictions eligible for jobs at organizations that provide care to children through department contracts.
The proposed rule change would also lift restrictions on people with other convictions, such as trafficking in controlled substances, who are currently ineligible for such jobs. It would maintain certain automatic exclusions – including prior convictions for human trafficking, sexual abuse or failure to protect against it, and child abuse among them.
CYFD also had not received any written public comment as of Thursday, department spokesperson Jessica Preston wrote in an email.
The rule change raised early concerns about who the department could allow to work with at-risk children.
But these early concerns may have been fueled in part by the misconception that the proposal would apply to CYFD employees; it only applies to potential employees of department contractors. Department spokesman Andrew Skobinsky said many of the questions the department has received about the rule change were based on that misunderstanding.
In response to questions, he said the department has clarified the scope of the rule, noting that “the information as written is correct.”
CYFD general counsel Justin Boyd said the misconception, while an easy mistake to make, was fueled in part by early news reports.
The intent of the rule, the department said, is to expand the candidate pool of potential employees at organizations such as residential treatment centers, shelters and community centers.
Boyd said the rule is intended to include people who may be excluded from being hired by CYFD contractors but who have experiences that could be valuable to the work they are interested in.
“We feel like we’re excluding a whole segment of the population that has very important experiences and very important, relevant experiences to the organizations they would be working for,” he said.
In an interview after her testimony, Garcia, the only public commentator, echoed that sentiment, noting that the current rule is very restrictive.
“We need to push it to the place where individuals have the ability to then say, ‘I have experience, I’m not a threat to children, this was the context of my accusation,’” she said.
Preston said the rule must be signed by Cabinet Secretary Teresa Casados by Nov. 7, and that the final version of the revised rule would be published on Nov. 19.
Esteban Candelaria is a member of the staff at Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms. He is responsible for the child welfare and state Department of Children, Youth and Families. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.
