Agency gets 2,400 calls to new reporting phone line in four days

State workers were slammed this week by 2,400 calls in four days after a new child abuse and neglect hotline was announced Monday.

The heavy demand shows the easy-to-remember #SAFE hotline is working as intended, even though a portion of the calls appear to be malicious, said Yolanda Berumen-Deines, secretary of the Children, Youth and Families Department.

“I really would appreciate people finding a different way to take care of their vendettas” against ex-spouses and neighbors, Berumen-Deines said Friday. “All of that is time taken away from a child that may need our response.”

The hotline received over 1,200 calls Wednesday and Thursday, Berumen-Deines said. Officials have no way of knowing how many were bogus, she said.

CYFD has always received a large number of unsubstantiated reports of abuse and neglect from the public. The previous hotline — a 1-800 number — received about 75,000 calls a year, 4,000 of which were substantiated, Berumen-Deines said.

Gov. Susana Martinez announced the new #SAFE number, accompanied by a media campaign that includes nine billboards around the state. The volume of calls has taxed CYFD’s staff of 30 intake officers.

“All of us are just jampacked with work,” said Linda Cravens-Rodriguez, central intake manager. The office has authorized overtime for intake workers and plans to hire seven more people to help handle the calls.

Though some of the calls likely are malicious, the majority stem from a genuine sense of concern on the part of callers, Cravens-Rodriguez said.

Officials hope the volume will subside over time as officials work their way through the reports, she said.

“Hopefully, it will taper off, and hopefully people who have serious concerns are the ones that are calling,” she said.

Berumen-Deines said CYFD staff can manage the workload.

“We wouldn’t have gone forward with this if we didn’t have the staff that can handle it,” she said. “My hope is that over time there will be fewer cases needing to be reported, and the number of calls will be reduced.”

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To report child abuse or neglect

• From a cell phone: #SAFE (#7233)
• From a land line: 855-333-SAFE (7233)