November 23 – An attorney for plaintiffs seeking improvements in the treatment of New Mexico children under her care questioned New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Secretary Teresa Casados during a hearing on progress made by the troubled organization under has booked her supervision.
Casados was the final witness in the state’s case, called Friday in a weeks-long arbitration proceeding that focused on New Mexico’s compliance with a landmark settlement agreement reached in 2020 in the class-action Kevin S. lawsuit . The agreement established a number of goals for reforming New Mexico’s child welfare system. A later corrective action plan, also central to the arbitration, aimed to get the state back on track with the settlement agreement.
The proceeding has been going on for two weeks and has included testimony from figures including the head of the Legislative Finance Committee, Health Care Authority Cabinet Secretary Kari Armijo and a child psychiatrist who said that despite the terms of the settlement calling for an end to the practice, New Mexico is still sending a number of needy children continue to leave the state.
Plaintiffs allege that the state failed to comply with both the settlement and the corrective action plan. A hiring freeze imposed in May 2023, they say, has exacerbated the agency’s problems in recruiting and retaining a stable workforce. An annual settlement progress report released last week by independent field experts tracking the state’s progress found that the state met only two of 39 targeted outcomes by 2023, when the plan was active. The plaintiffs want to force the state to take action to address problems with the state’s child welfare system, according to their amended notice of arbitration.
Casados: CYFD wants to take on challenges
In her testimony, Casados said she understood that the experts were monitoring the state’s efforts in good faith to achieve the goals in the settlement agreement — in her words, “not necessarily whether the goals were achieved, but whether the efforts benefited the agency helped move forward. in an effort to achieve those goals.”
She characterized the hiring freeze as a “pause” she instituted to get a handle on the department’s budget issues. She acknowledged that she had not communicated this to the field experts.
“My assignment was not to come in and lead the trial of Kevin S. My assignment initially was to come in and structurally organize a department that we felt was dysfunctional,” she said.
She also noted the external challenges CYFD faces in fully complying with the settlement, especially within four years of its signing, but said her staff is committed to doing so.
“I know they want to achieve these goals,” she said.
However, attorney F. Michael Hart focused on the state’s struggles during the time the corrective action plan was active, saying the goals were set out in the settlement agreement as results to be achieved.
“When parties talk and set dates and deadlines for things that need to be done, it is not trivial; it is not insignificant,” he said. “It’s because the children who rely on these services are incredibly vulnerable and need these things so that their future can be a little better and a little less chaotic.”
Prior to the arbitration, both parties agreed to a fourteen-day deadline to submit written closing arguments and other findings and conclusions to arbitrator Charles Peifer, according to CYFD spokesperson Jessica Preston. After this period, Peifer has 30 days to make a decision. At the end of testimony, the parties indicated the plan could change, although it was not clear if this was the case as of Friday evening.
Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, issued a statement Friday criticizing the department and calling on the CYFD to “come forward with concrete requests and legislation” to comply with the reforms outlined in the settlement. She and other lawmakers have often been critical of expectations that the agency will address issues related to the department and child welfare when the 60-day legislative session begins in January, including possible changes to CYFD oversight.
“The department led by Secretary Casados is spending more time fixing its failures than fulfilling its legal obligation to reform the agency,” Brantley said. “This department continually takes a back seat to the Governor’s priority list and today’s floundering testimony has unfortunately become par for the course.”
“They haven’t even come close yet.”
Hart asked Casados about several actions the state initiated to address portions of the settlement and corrective action plan, but were not fully implemented before the plan expired. These include efforts to implement a new child welfare information system — which would make information available in real time and track cases more easily for employees — and to house Presbyterian Health Plan care coordination services at CYFD offices to better manage visits to children to facilitate. enter state custody.
The information system has a tentative release date of November 2025 and the co-location plan is still largely in the works, Casados said. The corrective action plan expired on January 5.
But Hart said the settlement agreement and corrective action plan were negotiated for tangible accountability – results and deadlines.
“The lion’s share of the intended results have not been achieved, and they have not even come close,” he said. “What do we do now? … Do we go back five years to 2020 and renegotiate? Or do we look ahead and say, ‘This is what’s going to happen now, this is how we’re going to do it from now on,’ and we’re going to make sure it gets done?’ “
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 child welfare and the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.
