New Mexico has made strides over the past year in making good on its commitments in a landmark settlement agreement that mandated sweeping reforms of the state’s child welfare system.
But the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department still has a huge task ahead of it that includes improving workforce challenges and bringing kids placed beyond state lines home, an attorney for the plaintiffs of the Kevin S. lawsuit told lawmakers of the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee during a Wednesday meeting in Las Cruces.
“There’s been great progress and great recognition of some of these problems,” said plaintiffs’ attorney F. Michael Hart before adding there is a “tremendous amount still to be done.”
Though the state and plaintiffs last week reached an agreement to map out reform goals for the next gubernatorial administration, lawmakers still expressed concerns over the state’s delays in progress and the current status of New Mexico’s child welfare system.
“I am concerned that we have spent millions of dollars implementing Kevin S., and the progress — while there has been some progress — I think it has been slow,” said Rep. Eleanor Chávez, D-Albuquerque.
CYFD officials have reaffirmed their commitment to making progress in child welfare system reforms, even if they only have a few months left in their tenure in the agency.
“Until that time, our focus will not waver. We are not slowing down. We are not stepping back or waiting for the transition,” said acting Secretary Valerie Sandoval, who was appointed by outgoing Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, during a hearing last week. “We remain fully committed to meeting the requirements of Kevin S, advancing the reforms already underway, and continuing to improve outcomes for New Mexico children and families.”
Disruption ahead?
The Kevin S. lawsuit was filed by more than a dozen children in foster care in 2018 in an effort to improve the care, treatment and support of kids. The lawsuit yielded a settlement agreement laying out a number of reform goals for New Mexico.
But in 2024, plaintiffs in the case brought the settlement back to a lengthy arbitration process amid years of stagnation by the state in progressing on those goals. Last year, arbitrator Charles Peifer handed down two orders requiring New Mexico to make progress on targets in several key areas. Earlier this year, he approved another order representing a deal between CYFD, the state Health Care Authority, and plaintiffs finding the state had largely satisfied those orders and laying out requirements to reach new and outstanding targets.
The new deal made official last week came in anticipation of turnover in the Governor’s Office early next year — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is approaching the end of her second and final term — and amid concerns a new gubernatorial administration could interrupt momentum built by the state’s child welfare system in recent months.
As evidence of the state’s latest progress, state officials and plaintiffs have pointed to New Mexico’s completion of all mandatory health checks of children entering state custody on time in recent months, enrollment of more children in a new program providing extra support to foster families caring for children with greater needs, and satisfaction of mid-year targets.
But the new deal also came ahead of predictions by plaintiffs and field experts charged with tracking New Mexico’s progress on Kevin S. goals that the state would fall short of some of them.
For example, just 30% of child protective services workers had caseloads within acceptable standards at last count by the field experts, attorney Kayla Jankowski said during a hearing last week. CYFD was required under a previous order to increase that rate to 90% by Nov. 1.
Under the new agreement, half of the agency’s frontline caseworkers must have acceptable caseloads by March 31.
Hiring ‘whoever’?
Amid discussion of reducing high caseloads, lawmakers expressed concerns about the professionalization of New Mexico’s child protective services workers.
Just 87 CYFD caseworkers have licenses in social work, spokesperson Jake Thompson wrote in an email. A total of 346 have post-secondary degrees in related fields, including psychology, criminal justice, education, social work and mental health, he added. He did not provide the number of frontline caseworkers employed by the department.
Chávez said she’s concerned the state has dealt with the problem of vacant caseworker positions by “filling them with whoever.”
“People no longer have to have social work degrees … which is a concern,” she said. “I know that the workers work hard. I’m not saying that they don’t. But I think that if you don’t come from a place of of having those assessment skills, of having an education grounded in what child welfare should look like and what kids and families need, that’s not very helpful to anyone at all.”
Thompson said CYFD supported a bill approved by lawmakers earlier this year making it easier for social workers in other states that are part of a compact to practice in New Mexico — a measure he said should “bring more social workers into the state and to CYFD.” He said the agency has also worked to develop its social worker pipeline, including by entering agreements with four New Mexico universities to funnel federal funding to pay for the tuition and books of social work students who commit to working at CYFD after they graduate.
“Further, the department offers additional trainings for licensed social workers on staff to maintain their licenses; we pay for social worker licensure; and provide a temporary salary increase for provisional, bachelors and master’s level licensure,” Thompson wrote. “The department also operates a virtual social worker lounge for staff to access resources and advice on moving to social worker licensure.”
Back to New Mexico
Under the new agreement, the state must also begin developing plans by Nov. 16 to bring back children with developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorder who are placed outside New Mexico. By December 2027, the state must form a team dedicated to bringing all children in out-of-state facilities back and into appropriate New Mexico establishments.
Forty children were in placements outside New Mexico from April through June, according to data published by CYFD online.
Rep. John Block, R-Alamogordo, asked if children in settings beyond state lines might be safer, given challenges New Mexico has had in recent years to protect kids in its care.
“I know that they don’t have the necessary, let’s just say, cultural aspects of New Mexico, but they do potentially have greater access to other things like healthcare facilities, behavioral health, etc.,” Block said.
Hart acknowledged the challenge of finding appropriate therapeutic placements for children that meet their needs. However, he argued bringing back kids taken out of their home state is essential to their wellbeing.
“Each of these children who are in the state’s custody, the
y are New Mexicans, and many of them are bonded to New Mexicans,” he said. “So when we send them to Utah, or send them to Nevada, or send them to Montana, we are immediately cutting off one of the resources that we have, which is familial connections and familial history.”
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.
