New CYFD foster home cuts office stays, but nixed by feds

A former juvenile justice reintegration center in Albuquerque is serving as the state Children, Youth and Families Department’s newest way, at least in the short term, to house youths taken into state custody because of abuse or neglect by their parents.

But state lawmakers learned last week the federal government is now discouraging group home settings for most youths in foster care and won’t pay for foster children at New Mexico’s new “multi-service” foster home, which opened in late May.

Prolonged exposure to such congregate care can put foster children at greater risk for ending up homeless, incarcerated or addicted to drugs, according to research cited in a recent Legislative Finance Committee report.

With more than 2,000 children in New Mexico in state custody, and about 1,016 licensed foster homes, CYFD has struggled to recruit and retain foster families, also called resource families.

Some families offer to take more than one foster child, but the state on average loses about the same number of foster families each month as it recruits. Most often, children are placed with relatives, or less often, with licensed non-relative foster families while waiting the outcome of court proceedings to determine whether it is safe for them to return home.

In recent years, abused or neglected children removed on an emergency basis from their parents have had nowhere else to go except for the offices of CYFD. Aside from the impact on the children, that setting means employees have had to stay overnight to monitor them and, in some cases, have to return to work the next morning.

The number of times youths have stayed at CYFD offices hit a high of 50 statewide in March of this year, according to CYFD data. Such stays dropped to about 30 in June, the latest month data was available from CYFD’s website.

The state earlier this year contracted with the nonprofit AMIkids, based in Florida, to operate the new foster care center for males aged 12 to 17 in Albuquerque. The AMIkids website shows the company also has centers for treatment of juvenile offenders around the country.

“CYFD is committed to placing all youth in need of foster care with qualified resource foster parents or relative placements,” CYFD Secretary Teresa Casados said in announcing the opening of the home. “When such placements are unavailable, this new multipurpose home allows us to care for youth in a protective, nurturing environment for as long as needed.”

The building off Interstate 25 in Albuquerque had been a juvenile reintegration center up until CYFD closed it in early 2022. The reintegration center housed clients on supervised release and probation.

A total of seven youths have been housed at the center as of last month, said CYFD spokeswoman Jessica Preston. She said the longest stay has been about two months.

CYFD says youths will live at the center until CYFD can match them with a qualified resource foster home or reunite them with family or relatives. The full-time ratio of residents to supervisory staff at the home is 3:1, at a minimum, CYFD officials said. Additional administrative personnel, including a full-time nurse, are on-site during business hours of the center.

Legislative Finance Committee Deputy Director Jon Courtney told the Legislature’s Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee last week that CYFD can’t count on federal funding for the new multi-service center.

“The federal government will no longer fund group homes,” Courtney told lawmakers. “They see it as potentially detrimental and not a best practice. But it’s a challenging situation because CYFD has these kids that are sleeping in offices. This is a potential solution to that, from their perspective.”

In lieu of federal funding, the state has tapped funds originally intended to help increase the number of behavioral health providers in New Mexico. About $10 million of that $20 million fund will go to the new foster group home.

Though states have relied upon group homes or congregate care to house youths in state custody, research and clinical recommendations say such settings should be reserved for short-term treatment of foster children with acute mental health needs.

CYFD describes services at the home to possibly include “educational support, psychological services (such as individual and family counseling services and group therapy), basic medical care, health care coordination and workforce development.” Depending on each youth’s circumstances, CYFD says they will either attend school outside of the facility or participate in online classes in coordination with educators at the center.

Youth will also be able to earn their high school diploma or GED, CYFD has said.

The center provides access to computers, books, games and TV/movies in a homelike setting. Youth are welcome to decorate their rooms and common areas so they have a personal connection to their temporary accommodations. Three meals per day are prepared on site. Youth interested in learning how to cook can gain access to the kitchen and instruction, and supervision will be provided, CYFD has said.

CYFD has said the center will include basketball and volleyball courts, all housed in a large, secure yard. Optional gardening projects are available for interested youth, including an herb and vegetable garden for use in meal preparation.

On Friday afternoon, the building was locked to outsiders, with the blinds on most windows shuttered. A few cars with out-of-state license plates were parked outside.

“We are grateful to be able to offer such an array of support services to youth in need of guardianship who can’t be immediately placed with foster parents,” said Kathryn Fleming, executive director of AMIkids. “While still a refuge of last resort, AMIkids will provide the best possible solution for all our residents.”

There is no similar center for girls taken into state custody by CYFD.

CYFD, meanwhile, continues trying to attract new foster parents, partnering with local churches to hold informational meetings and hiring a private contractor.

The Legislature this year appropriated $3.7 million for recruitment and training for foster parents, with a specific focus on hard-to-place children.

Meanwhile, CYFD is embroiled in arbitration over its alleged failure to comply with the 2020 Kevin. S settlement agreement, aimed at improving the well-being of children taken into state custody. A group of attorneys representing those children contends the state has failed to comply with agreed-upon reforms. One of those reforms bars housing children in CYFD offices, with certain exceptions.

A recent filing in the arbitration case focused on a girl, identified only as Carmen, who had to sleep in CYFD’s office visitation room from last Aug. 29 through Oct. 1.

“During this period, CYFD improperly provided reheated frozen food prepared at the Bernalillo County Juvenile Delinquency Center and invaded Carmen’s privacy by monitoring her showering and refusing her a razor for shaving even while failing to provide mental health treatment,” according to the attorneys’ filing.

They fault CYFD for “a lack of focus on retention of resource parents.”

CYFD’s lawyers say the agency has made “good faith efforts” to improve foster parent retention and recruitment.