A state contract for a troubled Albuquerque group home for foster boys will expire without renewal June 30 following two years of high staff turnover, criticism from lawmakers and the death of a teen last year.
Florida-based nonprofit AMIkids Inc. was offered a contract extension but declined, New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department spokesperson Jake Thompson wrote in an email. He said contracts with another provider for two other similar facilities, including one for girls, will also expire then.
CYFD will now send out a request for proposals for providers to operate three group homes for children in Bernalillo County, he added.
“After careful consideration, AMIkids made the decision not to pursue an extension of the contract,” Roxane Wergin, a spokesperson for the nonprofit, wrote in an email. “We are proud of the work our team has done in service to youth and families through this program and remain committed to our mission of helping young people develop the skills and confidence needed to succeed.”
Wergin said CYFD and AMIkids are working together to ensure a “smooth transition and continuity of care for the youth currently served through the program.”
As of Tuesday, Thompson said, three boys were staying at the facility, which has capacity for up to a dozen.
Neither the state agency nor the nonprofit directly answered questions about where the remaining boys would be placed.
“CYFD aims to ensure that we have the best programs possible to meet the needs of the young people in our care,” Thompson wrote. “The department is proceeding this year with a competitive process. The goal is to identify supportive environments that will accept our children 24/7 and provide stability and services to meet their social and emotional needs.”
The Albuquerque group home for boys first opened in June 2024 and has been the subject and site of a number of issues, including:
- A surge of staff departures — including some who expressed concerns about dysfunction at the facility;
- Criticism from New Mexico lawmakers over the strategy of using congregate care for youth, corrective action plans from the state;
- The April 2025 death by suicide of 16-year-old Jaydun Garcia.
Staff at the facility and CYFD were accused of failing to act to prevent the teen’s death, despite warnings from other boys. That accusation prompted a yearlong investigation into CYFD by the New Mexico Department of Justice. The probe resulted in a scathing report released earlier this year identifying several systemic issues within the agency.
It also led to a lawsuit filed by Garcia’s family in April in the state’s First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe against CYFD, the state Health Care Authority, AMIkids and the nonprofit’s staff members. The lawsuit alleges the state failed to house the boy in safe environments and to operate a sufficient behavioral health system, and it accuses AMIkids of being unprepared to help the boy.
The state and the nonprofit filed responses to the civil complaint in recent days, with each largely denying the allegations. In its response, AMIkids denied the Albuquerque facility was poorly run. Both court filings called for a judge to toss the lawsuit.
In response to a question about whether the facility’s troubles contributed to AMIkids’ decision to end the contract, Wergin wrote the nonprofit would not comment on issues involved in the lawsuit.
“The decision not to extend the contract was made following a review of organizational priorities and operational considerations,” she added.
State Rep. Eleanor Chávez, an Albuquerque Democrat who has long criticized the state’s use of group homes for foster children who are otherwise difficult to place in traditional home settings, expressed concerns about CYFD’s intention to continue with its strategy of operating group homes.
She argued the state should focus more of its efforts on keeping children out of the foster care system by providing preventive services for families.
The state has a dedicated division for that purpose, and also referred 738 families to its Family Outreach program, which can connect them with services, according to an April report showing data from the past 13 months. Still, thousands of children entered or exited foster care last year.
CYFD has long argued congregate care facilities, like the Albuquerque home for boys, offer a middle-of-the road option between housing children in agency offices — a strategy the state announced it ended earlier this year — and the ideal situation of placing foster kids with families.
Chávez still emphasized the harm and trauma that comes to children in group homes.
Fifteen total youth were staying in facilities like the Albuquerque home as of Tuesday, including the three in that facility, Thompson said.
“What kinds of supports are we providing to families at the front end so that kids don’t end up in care? Because I think that we’ve all seen how traumatic this is for kids,” Chávez said.
She added, “Doing a contract with AMI was sort of a reaction to having all these kids in custody, and so it was almost, in some ways, a knee-jerk reaction, and it feels like that’s what they’re doing again, without really taking a step back and thinking about the impact on kids.”
