Dec. 10—New Mexico is faring no better than a year ago on some of the key issues facing the child welfare system, according to presentations given to lawmakers Tuesday.
The state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families in particular has struggled to make gains in recruiting resources and foster homes and in stabilizing its own workforce. The agency is also missing out on federal funds that would help it implement important prevention programs, Legislative Finance Committee staff told lawmakers on the committee.
Committee Chairman Sen. George Muñoz, D-Gallup, noted the ticking clock facing Cabinet Secretary Teresa Casados to turn around the CYFD.
“Your days are numbered. There are still two years left in how much change you can make,” he said, apparently referring to the amount of time left in Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s term. “And it’s really about fixing things from here on out.”
During her presentation to lawmakers, Casados acknowledged the challenges CYFD faces, but said recent developments in some of her agency’s initiatives could help address these challenges.
“It’s an incredibly difficult job, and we’re working very hard to make sure we’re not just hiring, but also taking initiatives to retain people,” she said.
Staffing and recruiting foster families are still a struggle
CYFD continues to struggle to maintain a stable workforce, especially in the crucial Protective Services division.
That division now has fewer employees than it did at this time last year, according to a report given to lawmakers. The division’s workforce stands at 918 this month, while its workforce stood at 936 in December 2023.
Agency data shows there are currently 305 vacancies and more than 1,100 full-time equivalent positions in the Protective Services Division, the most of any division in the agency. There are 638 vacancies and almost 2,300 full-time equivalents in the department.
Casados acknowledged CYFD’s challenges in hiring and retaining staff. But she said the agency is making progress in retaining its workforce and improving the training of the workers it hires.
During the current pay period, CYFD has implemented a 10% increase for licensed social workers, a move Casados hopes will encourage them to stay. However, this increase is temporary and only lasts until June.
The CYFD chief also said the agency has revamped training for new hires, now including several weeks of online learning, virtual reality and other workshops before they receive in-person training that puts their learning into practice.
“What we hear from many of the employees who have undergone training is that once they go into the field after five weeks of training, they are unprepared and don’t understand how that relates to the work they do.” do,” she said. “So we’re changing that in hopes that we’ll have better retention.”
New Mexico also continues to struggle with recruiting enough resources and foster homes to care for children in state custody.
According to CYFD data, more than 2,100 children are in the state’s care. But the agency has only 1,085 total resources and foster homes.
According to an online dashboard, CYFD has set a goal of 265 new non-relative foster homes this year. But agency data showed Tuesday that CYFD has licensed 124 new non-relative foster homes since January, less than half of its goal.
In 2023, CYFD fell 61 homes short of its goal of recruiting 190 new non-kin foster homes, according to a recent report from independent field experts charged with monitoring the state’s progress in a landmark settlement agreement.
And on Monday night, Casados said seventeen children were sleeping in CYFD offices.
That number mainly included the committee’s vice chairman, Rep. Nathan Small, D-Las Cruces.
“As we all recognise, it is unacceptable, it is dangerous, it is causing… some of the challenges that are affecting children and staff,” he said.
Casados says ‘Foster Care+’ will help
Casados said the agency has a plan in the works to help such children, who often stay in CYFD offices because they have greater needs and finding families to meet them is difficult.
CYFD expects to soon roll out its own version of an Oklahoma program known as Enhanced Foster Care, which CYFD says would equip families with the training and resources to house children with higher needs.
Casados said New Mexico’s program, called “Foster Care+,” hopes to see its first cohort of families in mid-January to early February 2025. She told The New Mexican that the agency currently has about five families interested in participating in the program.
Reimbursement rates for Foster Care+ will be higher than those of standard foster care, but Casados said the agency has not yet determined how much.
For years, New Mexico has not received approval for an application for a federal Family First Prevention Services Act plan. That program allows states and tribal governments to receive federal reimbursement for a range of services for children who are eligible for foster care and who can remain in their home with those services, or for foster children who are pregnant or in parenting care, including mental health care and treatment, prevention of substance abuse and treatment and parent education.
Although New Mexico has submitted plans for approval more than once, it is one of the few states in the country without a plan, according to Tuesday’s LFC report. It was not immediately clear on Tuesday why previous plans were not approved.
“That would be a real opportunity to reduce federal funding [to] implement prevention services,” said commission analyst Rachel Mercer Garcia.
Casados said the agency resubmitted its plan to the federal government last week, after several drafts and reviews over the past year.
“We are incredibly hopeful that that plan will be approved, hopefully very, very soon,” she said.
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.
