Sep. 18 -- Lawmakers on the Legislative Finance Committee expressed frustration Wednesday with the Children, Youth and Families Department, with some suggesting legislators should try again to bring third-party oversight to the agency.
"I'm exhausted from hearing this over and over and over again," Rep. Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, told Cabinet Secretary Teresa Casados. "... Fix it, please. Let us help you."
"Madam representative, I am trying," Casados interjected.
Wednesday's presentation focused on CYFD's efforts to improve its workforce, cut down on child maltreatment and place foster children -- all areas where the department has struggled.
Casados acknowledged her feelings with the challenges the department faces, saying they are feelings CYFD employees also experience.
"When I open up that newspaper and I read about the dumpster fire, or I read about our failing, it really makes you stop and question, 'Am I doing the right thing?' " she said.
To hold CYFD more accountable, some lawmakers suggested creating an external oversight agency, which has some support but has failed to pass in recent legislative sessions.
During the 2024 session, a resolution that would have amended the state constitution to create a panel to oversee the department died in committee. A bill in 2023 would have created an oversight office attached to what is now the state Department of Justice, but that bill also died.
"This is not a problem created by this administration, it's been going on for years. It's an inherited problem, if anything," said House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque. "... And I have a hard time understanding why we wouldn't want somebody to look under the hood to tell us what's going on."
But Casados was resistant to the idea, pointing out the department already has significant oversight in the form of federal reviews; the Kevin S. lawsuit and the third-party monitors attached to that; and the state Substitute Care Advisory Council.
She also said in the case of the 2023 bill, the thought of having an oversight office attached to the state attorney general was intimidating to CYFD employees.
CYFD's workforce issues are among its most significant, Casados said, adding they tend to trickle down and create more problems.
"We continue to face challenges in hiring and retaining staff. We start to see that things are getting better, and we're hiring, and then we have, like, six or seven investigators quit," she said. "And replacing those investigators is not just a matter of hiring somebody new and handing them a caseload."
Throughout the second quarter of this fiscal year, analysts with the LFC found the turnover rate in the department's Protective Services Division was 34%, which is 14 percentage points higher than CYFD's target turnover rate.
CYFD's agency-wide vacancy rate was about 29% as of Sept. 10, according to a department presentation. The Protective Services Division, which had the most full-time positions, had a vacancy rate of about 27%, and the Juvenile Justice Division had one of about 29%.
The department has 222 posted job openings, according to the presentation.
But CYFD has struggled to make gains in developing its workforce despite millions of dollars in investments by the Legislature, LFC analysts found.
In 2023, lawmakers set aside a special appropriation of $3 million for the department to develop its workforce development plan, almost $3 million for additional staff and $5 million for salary adjustments, according to a Legislative Finance Committee brief. To date, less than $100,000 of that appropriation has been spent.
Since January, CYFD said it has participated in 62 hiring events. The department has also put in motion efforts to recruit college students interested in careers in social work, including bringing in students to shadow CYFD employees.
And to help retain workers, Casados said the department is also working with Presbyterian Healthcare Services to create a workforce wellness program that would provide counseling services and encourage physical fitness.
"One of the hardest jobs, I believe, in state government is a child welfare worker," Casados said. "... So I believe establishing a strong workforce support program for them will really help in retention and just employee well-being and satisfaction in the job that they're doing."
CYFD has also struggled to access some federal funds aimed at setting up prevention and intervention programs for families at risk of child maltreatment. While the department submitted a plan to the federal government about two years ago to access such funds, that plan had not been approved.
For the fiscal year, the Legislature set aside $200,000 for technical assistance to revise and resubmit the plan, but CYFD is still in the process of preparing it, according to the Legislative Finance Committee.
In the meantime, Casados said the department has leaned more on its Family Services Division in an effort to provide services to families who may not be willfully neglecting a child, instead of investigating the family over whether abuse or neglect is happening.
"Oftentimes it will be neglect for issues that maybe the family just doesn't know where to get services -- it could be housing, it could be food insecurity, it could be clothing issues, it could be medical appointments or medical neglect," she said. "We want to take those and remove them from the Protective Services' investigation side."
Along with recruitment woes in its own workforce, CYFD is also struggling to bring on new foster families.
"New Mexico has not had in recent years sufficient numbers of resource homes or foster parents," said Legislative Finance Committee analyst Rachel Mercer Garcia.
There are 2,228 available foster care beds in New Mexico and 2,064 children in state custody, Casados said. But as of Tuesday night, there were 20 kids sleeping in offices, Casados said.
"The numbers aren't making sense to me, to have that many [resource families], and that many children still sleeping in offices," Armstrong said.
Casados said the reason for the disparity is because some children have more needs than foster families can provide, so they often end up staying in department offices. She said the department is building out a "Foster Care +" program, which she said in Oklahoma has helped provide additional training to foster families and cut down on children staying in offices.
"We have a team that's going out to train with them on that, and we will be starting to recruit in a more targeted way to meet the needs of those kids that we're still not able to find appropriate placement for," she said.
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.