Lawmakers express frustration over vetoed funding for new CYFD oversight office

SANTA FE — Two months after this year’s 60-day legislative session wrapped up, lawmakers remain at odds with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration over New Mexico’s child welfare system.

During a Tuesday legislative interim committee hearing, several lawmakers expressed frustration about the governor’s veto of most of the funding connected to a new outside oversight office of the state’s Children, Youth and Families Department.

That office, called the Office of the Child Advocate, will officially be created in July, though a director might not be named until later in the year. That’s because a nominating commission tasked with submitting names to the governor has not convened yet.

Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, described Lujan Grisham’s vetoes as “heartbreaking,” a sentiment also echoed by other legislators.

Some lawmakers also bristled at the governor’s accusations that “posturing and grandstanding” were behind the push for legislation to create more outside oversight of CYFD, which has had three different Cabinet secretaries over the past six-plus years.

“I find it insulting,” said Rep. Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park, during Tuesday’s meeting of the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee at the state Capitol. “I don’t think anyone here, Republican or Democrat, is gleefully condemning CYFD.”

Lawmakers have expressed increasing frustration with the Lujan Grisham administration’s handling of child welfare issues over the last year, amid high rates of staff turnover.

In addition, New Mexico has recorded a worsening repeat child mistreatment rate, despite increased spending on CYFD in recent years in an attempt to hire more social workers.

The new Office of the Child Advocate will be administratively attached to the New Mexico Department of Justice, and top officials in that office said the vetoes would not prevent the planned launch from happening.

“I think the attorney general’s intent is to make sure this office gets off to the right start,” said Billy Jimenez, the deputy attorney general for civil affairs.

Specifically, he said that $650,000 in funding Lujan Grisham left intact when signing this year’s budget bill would provide enough funding to at least open the new office. The governor vetoed more than $1.6 million in funding connected to the new office in other parts of the bill.

Meanwhile, CYFD Secretary Teresa Casados and other top agency officials were not invited to attend Tuesday’s hearing on the new law’s implementation.

But a CYFD spokeswoman said agency officials have begun meeting with Attorney General Raul Torrez’s office about how the new office will function.

While Lujan Grisham has expressed concern that outside oversight of CYFD could create conflict and dampen employee morale, agency spokeswoman Jessica Preston said that Casados has indicated support for such oversight.

With the new office set to open in just over a month, Preston said that CYFD officials “look forward to collaborating with the new Office of Child Advocate to serve the children, youth and families of New Mexico when it is up and running.”

But several legislators cited the recent suicide of a 16-year-old boy at a state group home in Albuquerque as evidence that more work needs to be done to improve child welfare in New Mexico.

“We have children who are dying on our watch,” said Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, the interim committee’s chairman, during Tuesday’s hearing.

The incident prompted Torrez to launch an investigation last month into the status of children who have been removed from their homes by CYFD and temporarily placed in group homes or agency offices.

But CYFD officials have defended the practice by citing a statewide shortage of foster homes. As of last month, the agency’s website showed 2,121 children were in state custody, while there are 1,059 licensed foster homes.

Maralyn Beck, the founder and executive director of the New Mexico Child First Network, a group that works to serve children in foster care, attended Tuesday’s hearing and has advocated in recent years for changes to the state’s child welfare agency.

“These aren’t insurmountable problems,” Beck said in a statement, referring to the challenges facing CYFD.