Deaths of children in CYFD custody decried

Nine children died while in New Mexico foster care in 2025, according to a new report, with another 10 identified as "near fatalities." 

It's a toll one child welfare attorney called "shocking."

The data was reported by two outside monitors regularly tracking what is happening to abused and neglected children in state custody. 

The report, by Judith Meltzer, of the Center for the Study of Social Policy, and Kevin Ryan, of the group Public Catalyst, was made public in advance of a March hearing before a state-retained arbitrator who is overseeing New Mexico's compliance with a 2020 settlement of a lawsuit designed to improve the wellbeing of foster children and youth.

"Safety of children is the core function of the foster care system. It is shocking that in 2025 nine children died and there were ten near fatalities reported," said attorney Tara Ford, who is part of the legal team that filed the lawsuit in 2018 on behalf of 14 foster children, including a boy identified as Kevin S.; and two organizations, Disability Rights New Mexico and the Native American Disability Law Center.

According to a Children, Youth and Families Department spokesman on Friday, five children in state custody died in 2024, but CYFD didn't separate out "near fatalities" back then. That has changed since the state Legislature last year enacted a law that required such data be reported.

That law defines a near fatality as a child who is placed in a serious or critical medical condition, as certified by a physician.

CYFD data shows the causes of death included accident, homicide and suicide. In the deaths of five children, all under 18-months old, the cause was undetermined. The children were living either in a group home with foster parents or resided with biological parents who were under investigation by CYFD or those in which CYFD had an open case.

Seven of the 10 deaths last year involved children 18 months and younger.

In their report, the monitors, also called co-neutrals, singled out the deaths of a pregnant 17-year-old and a 16-year-old boy who committed suicide about a month apart last spring. 

Both had been in custody of CYFD for less than two years, though each was long known to the agency, the report stated. 

In many instances, records show that both teens "demonstrated resilience, sought help from CYFD when in crisis, and frequently showed a desire for connection to supportive adults and stability during their time in custody," the monitors reported.

"Records indicate that each youth had the benefit of at least one determined and skilled staff person at some point during their time in care who advocated, mostly unsuccessfully, for their needs and wants."

But the monitors found, "Therapeutic and supportive services were not provided consistently and, in some instances, not provided at all."

The CYFD records examined in the two cases "exemplify" the negative impact on the two youths of continuous CYFD staff turnover and the inadequate supply of safe, family-based placements for foster children, the report states.

"At the time of their deaths, neither youth was placed in a stable family-based setting with adequate support to transition and sustain the placement while in CYFD custody," the report stated.

After they died, the report states, "The administrative response ... by CYFD was fully inadequate, marked by incorrect information, poor inter-agency coordination and the slow exercise of post-fatality investigation and oversight."

"Symptomatic of this approach, CYFD often pledged to provide key information and reports to the Co-Neutrals, which typically did not arrive as promised, if at all," the report states.

In the boy's case, "there was inadequate follow-up with the institution where he resided to ensure the safety and well-being of the remaining residents and to correct failures related to supervision and safety," the report stated. He had been living at the AMIKids multiservice home in Albuquerque when he died.

In recent years, CYFD  has struggled with many of the Kevin S. provisions, such as increasing the number of foster homes and hiring enough employees to lower caseworker caseloads. Meltzer and Ryan, called co-neutrals, are paid by the state to assess compliance and make recommendations to help CYFD and the state Health Care Authority meet their goals.

One area of "substantial progress" cited in the report showed 77% of children entering state custody received a required well-child visit from a medical provider to assess their health from July to November 2025. That was up dramatically from the 23% of children who received such visits within 30 days of entry in the first half of the year.

CYFD, which has had three cabinet secretaries since 2019, has undergone a significant leadership change under acting Secretary Valerie Sandoval, who took over last fall. But the beleaguered agency, which cares for about 2,000 foster children, has had difficulty recruiting foster parents and retaining caseworkers.

"The State’s limited areas of improvement stand in stark contrast to the harm endured by children whose lives are in the balance, " Ford said in a statement to the Journal. 

Jake Thompson, a CYFD spokesperson, told the Journal on Friday that the agency is  implementing a broad strategy to increase the number of foster homes, including  improved training for recruiters, new welcome packets for foster parents, a landing page to house detailed foster parent information, marketing outreach in the state's five high needs counties and enhanced training for prospective foster parents.

"CYFD welcomes the ongoing efforts of the CoNeutrals to not only evaluate the State’s compliance with the Kevin S obligations, but to meet with both staff and leadership to identify best practices that improve our performance in meeting our mission," Thompson said on Friday. "Their time, diligence, and expertise are sincerely appreciated as we continually strive to improve the safety, security and well-being of children in CYFD’s care."

Ford said she believes it "remains perilous" for children in foster care given that the monitors found only 20% of CYFD workers met caseload standards.

"Similarly," she added, "the state cannot keep children safe when it lacks appropriate placements for children. CYFD only licensed 46 percent of the required number of new non-relative (foster) homes in 2025."