A Las Cruces-based provider of services to at-risk youth shared its successes with state lawmakers Tuesday but also highlighted ways in which staffing struggles and the state’s funding structure can limit what they and other providers can accomplish.
More than 415 people participated in Families and Youth Innovations Plus services in 2023, whose programs aim to help at risk-youth avoid violence and build lives outside of foster care or incarceration. In 2025, that number had more than doubled to 1,000, officials with the group told lawmakers on the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee during a presentation demonstrating outcomes of the organization’s state-funded programs.
Still, Logan Howard, the group’s director of impact and public policy, noted the organization faces challenges in staffing its programs. The organization also identified larger issues, including challenges with coordinating funding across multiple state agencies to address the struggles of New Mexico youth.
“When we work with folks early, we have better results, and we also save state resources,” Howard said. “And the truth is, we really just need to get ahead of the curve when it comes to youth culture. And we can’t be reactive, and we need to be responsive both in policy and practice.”
Families and Youth Innovations Plus, which was founded in 1977, receives a mix of federal and state funds and provides around 40 programs, Howard said. Most are based in Las Cruces.
For example, one program helped 36 young people — those between ages 16 and 22 — prepare to leave New Mexico’s foster care system by building life skills, referring them to housing services and assisting with case management. A similar program provides housing to some young people and acts like a college dormitory in that it helps build their social network but also gives them more independence and responsibility as they get older.
Another program that’s been running since 1997 helps young people exiting juvenile incarceration — as well as those still in it — reenter society. The program assigns so-called “success coaches” who help with case management services and life skills, provides educational support for those who struggle in traditional schools and sometimes provides cash when families are in dire need.
Some 113 youth were served by the program in fiscal year 2026, 38% of whom were successfully discharged from the program and probation and 42% of whom are still being served. The remainder didn’t follow through on the program or went back into incarceration, chief program officer Lisa Chavez said.
A fourth program sought to bring social-emotional learning skills to the classrooms of three schools, and reached out to families and youth who were experiencing domestic violence or suicidal ideations 87 times. The goal of the program was to reduce violence in schools through prevention and intervention efforts, and Chavez said it reduced behavioral health write-ups of children by 95%.
‘Coordination … would be huge’
Chavez said the organization’s strategy of providing intervention, prevention and diversion programs from under one roof has been successful.
But the organization also faces a number of challenges in its programs, such as struggles to provide adequate transportation, disorganized funding and, notably, staffing shortages. Workforce problems in turn fuel waitlists for programs, Chavez said — for example, the housing program in fiscal year 2026 had 63 youth apply, 17 be accepted, and 26 placed on a waitlist.
That problem comes with the territory, Chavez said.
“It’s really hard to staff a 24/7 facility intentionally with people who are equipped to do that type of work,” she said.
But Chavez also said funding from the state can come with unexpected delays, regardless of the agency it’s coming from, leaving his organization struggling to bridge gaps.
“We spend a lot of time and energy playing catch up and trying to make sure that the services get implemented anyway,” she said.
Howard also expressed more general concerns that New Mexico’s method of funding initiatives affecting youth is broken up among several state agencies, leading to disjointed responses.
For example, he said the Legislature may set aside juvenile justice services funding for the state Children, Youth and Families Department as well as the Department of Health, and it may not be clear how those agencies’ efforts overlap or leave gaps.
“I think unifying that into one spot may be helpful, and also maybe an interagency council if they are going to come from different places, and making sure that they’re talking in those spaces,” Howard said.
Lawmakers expressed interest in the idea of better coordinating funding sources for similar initiatives that are spread across multiple agencies, with Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, arguing the problem is pervasive in other areas addressed by state government.
“That coordination, I think, would be huge,” she said. “So I think this insight is really important in making sure that people don’t fall through the cracks.”
Rep. Eleanor Chávez, D-Albuquerque, echoed Sedillo Lopez’s interest in the idea of providing more coordinated funding for community services for children and families and said lawmakers need to discuss the issue.
“It sounds like one of the one of the main things that we need to think about as a state is in terms of how we’re how we’re doing our funding, right? Not piecemeal, kind of the way that it’s being done now … because it sounds like we’re not doing the best we can in terms of getting services to kids and families,” she said.
Esteban Candelaria is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. He covers child welfare and the state Children, Youth and Families Department. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.
