2022 ABQ Journal Questions Future Legislators on CYFD
The Albuquerque Journal asked all future New Mexico House of Representatives the following question:
The state agency tasked with keeping New Mexico children safe has faced recent scrutiny over transparency issues and its handling of high-profile child abuse cases. What changes would you support to improve the operations of the Children, Youth and Families Department?
The candidate answers as provided to the Journal, are below. All answers in original format are posted here.
To find out what House District you live in, click here. Sample ballots will be available through the Secretary of State’s office at NMVote.org.
Q&A: House District 66 candidate Andrew Kennedy*
Child abuse is a violent crime that every government official should be focused on preventing. We should increase both transparency and community involvement in efforts to prevent this horrific crime.
Q&A: House District 68 candidate Charlotte Little*
Most state departments, which were dramatically cut during the Martinez era, need increased staffing. This shortage is especially dire for agencies like CYFD that address such grave matters as child abuse that involve child welfare, family dynamics, complex legal rules, and myriad social service agencies.
Q&A: House District 68 candidate Robert Moss*
CYFD is a broken bureaucratic system, and the state has failed to hold it accountable, which isn’t surprising since we are failing our children across the board. CYFD only works if it puts children first and is held responsible for failing to do so.
Q&A: House District 64 candidate David Lansford*
Uncertain.
Q&A: House District 56 candidate Elaine Allen*
We need better oversight because right now you have the fox guarding the henhouse with corruption and the deaths of several children. We need to build this department back up from the bottom and bring common sense back.
Q&A: House District 57 candidate Michelle Sandoval*
I would support legislation that requires transparency with this department in all regards mandating case audits and public access to offenders while keeping defendants’ identities protected.
Q&A: House District 57 candidate Jason Harper*
The front-line workers at CYFD, with their back-breaking caseloads, the heart-breaking situations they try to help with every day, and their low pay, are true angels. The biggest help to CYFD would be to stop politicizing it, and provide greater staffing, improved training, and higher salaries.
Q&A: House District 52 candidate John Foreman*
As a former foster parent, I would support legislation that makes CYFD stronger and a better environment for these children. I would support holding those accountable who are in need of it and better supporting the majority who serve with the right heart for the needs of others. My father was such a person and did so for 31 years.
Q&A: House District 52 candidate Doreen Gallegos*
As one who works with children and families and worked at CYFD, I know how important and difficult this work is. CYFD is woefully understaffed. Nearly every cabinet secretary has tried to change the culture there. It’s time the Legislature steps in with oversight capabilities and forces change.
Q&A: House District 51 candidate John Block*
CYFD is an absolute dumpster fire. We must first ensure time and effort are put into each case, including recruiting former law enforcers to help alleviate the workload of those already in the department. We must ensure oversight measures, so no child slips through the cracks and other measures.
Q&A: House District 46 candidate Andrea Romero*
Most state departments, which were dramatically cut during the Martinez era, need increased staffing. This shortage is especially dire for agencies like CYFD that address such grave matters as child abuse that involve child welfare, family dynamics, complex legal rules, and myriad social service agencies.
Q&A: House District 46 candidate Jay Groseclose*
I am a professional by trade and will not answer without serious background investigation and professional advice. New Mexico is ranked 50th in the nation in child well-being. This is the governor’s fault and the Legislature has failed to act or begin the work necessary to address this horrific negligence.
Q&A: House District 44 candidate Jane Powdrell-Culbert*
Transparency.
Q&A: House District 44 candidate Kathleen Cates*
A quality control process is needed to create documented accountable processes. There are several programs that can be used but they will require a quality control department that does not report directly to CYFD.
Q&A: House District 40 candidate Joseph Sanchez*
We must retain our current caseworkers, incentivizing them with better pay. In addition, we need to add caseworkers so we can reduce the case load for each worker. I believe we must tap into the current workforce to see how we can make positive changes at CYFD — this means talking to management as well as the hands-on workforce.
Q&A: House District 38 candidate Tara Jaramillo*
We must increase prevention and intervention for parental drug abuse as well as mental health support for families. Increased transparency and collaboration with community partners such as schools, income support programs, and juvenile justice delinquency prevention providers must exist so that all involved advocate for the child’s needs.
Q&A: House District 37 candidate Joanne Ferrary*
CYFD needs more staff that are well paid and not overburdened with too many cases. Monitoring through better data collection and sharing is critical and can help with best placement scenarios and protections.
Q&A: House District 39 candidate Rudy Martinez*
Improve the lack of transparency that is preventing families and the public from accessing necessary information that is needed to hold the department accountable. We can’t keep kids safe if we don’t know what the department is doing.
Q&A: House District 36 candidate Nathan Small*
CYFD must improve child safety by filling vacant positions, supporting frontline workers, engaging New Mexicans in collaborative solutions, and rebuilding trust. Differential response expansion, stronger community partnerships, cross agency collaborations, and a willingness to do whatever is necessary to safeguard kids from dangerous situations are vital.
Q&A: House District 31 candidate Bill Rehm*
CYFD must take action now to protect our most vulnerable children through transparency, and ending inconsistent policies or procedures. Ending the confidentiality clause preventing disclosure of internal failures. We must implement a third-party independent appeals process that can be quickly utilized by anyone concerned about CYFD actions (or lack thereof).
Q&A: House District 31 candidate Athena Christodoulou*
Our children are our future and are the most vulnerable in our society. Major decisions by CYFD need to incorporate a process for public input. Respect for the agency and its effectiveness will benefit from greater transparency, better screening and training of new hires, and lower case loads.
Q&A: House District 30 candidate Natalie Figueroa*
The safety of children is paramount. I support an independent ombudsman to help implement necessary improvements, accountability, and increase full time equivalent employees to ensure case follow-through. CYFD is large and unwieldy, making it difficult to effect change. I would explore dividing the department so oversight and change can be implemented swiftly.
Q&A: House District 30 candidate Kurstin Johnson*
All too often CYFD has used children and privacy laws as shields to hide a broken system in shadow. Children who had the great misfortune of being born into bad situations deserve dignity, protection and transparency. Let’s shine a light on that department, find the problems, and fix them.
Q&A: House District 29 candidate Joy Garratt*
I support a CYFD focus on improving and expanding preventive services. It is essential to ensure pay equity so effective employees stay with CYFD and do not move to better paying and possibly less stressful jobs in the private sector or other government agencies. Caseloads must meet professional standards.
Q&A: House District 28 candidate Pamelya Herndon*
As an agency, CYFD is severely understaffed. I support more funding for CYFD to increase staff. The increased funding will also be used to provide salaries for CYFD employees that is more aligned with the stress and demands of the job.
Q&A: House District 28 candidate Nicole Chavez*
I testified in support of an independent and autonomous ombudsman during the 2022 New Mexico legislative session. CYFD cannot continue to police themselves. There must be an external oversight agency. Child safety and department transparency must be top priorities for our state as children are dying under the current CYFD administration.
Q&A: House District 27 candidate Marian Matthews*
Change the culture of this often secretive, unresponsive agency by creating an ombudsman office, requiring disclosure of comprehensive information, including key safety metrics, about neglect and abuse cases, consistent with the privacy rights of the children and families, and codify program improvements required in the Kevin S. litigation.
Q&A: House District 27 candidate Robert S. Godshall*
The people of CYFD have an impossible job and they are overwhelmed by the number of children who need better parents. It is an agency that has too many responsibilities and is, therefore, designed to fail. Maybe CYFD should stick to its mission to remove children from dangerous situations and get out of the business of family improvement.
Q&A: House District 26 candidate Eleanor Chavez*
Caseloads must be reduced especially for workers responsible for assessing initial risk for abuse or neglect and responsible for providing ongoing case management. We should increase pay to reduce turnover and provide additional training for supervisors and CPS workers. As a state we must provide additional support to at-risk families.
Q&A: House District 26 candidate Patrick Sais*
It needs to be replaced and rebuilt.
Q&A: House District 24 candidate Liz Thomson*
This is a tough and long-lived problem. I would invest in measures to help the department to become fully staffed. Overworked, underpaid and overstressed staff are not able to do the difficult and necessary work. Caseload limits must be reasonable and followed. Transparency is needed.
Q&A: House District 23 candidate Ramon Montano*
CYFD must improve their system as soon as possible, such as hiring more people, reducing caseloads, overhauling training protocols, and creating new critical incident teams to review cases. CYFD needs to bring all stakeholders to the table so that no child is left in a critical or dangerous situation. Transparency and oversight are greatly needed.
Q&A: House District 23 candidate Alan Martinez*
A complete overhaul of CYFD is years overdue. Funding for additional social workers, training, and support for these front line workers is a must. Better communication with local law enforcement is a must. The creation of a team approach to combat the horrible crime of harming a child could save lives.
Q&A: House District 22 candidate Stefani Lord*
I introduced HB 188 (amending the Abuse and Neglect Act) in 2022 to amend the CYFD confidentiality clause to disclose more; we cannot fix problems we don’t know exist. I support an independent and autonomous outside office to review CYFD issues, concerns and cases.
Q&A: House District 22 candidate Augustine Montoya*
Ensuring the mishandling of New Mexico’s children is properly investigated and that CYFD is accountable for its actions or inactions. Further, implementing programs that provide oversight for these operations. Additionally, supporting programs such as CASA that advocate for the child’s interest.
Q&A: House District 20 candidate Meredith Dixon*
First, the Children, Youth and Families Department needs an independent, outside ombudsman. Second, essential components of the Kevin S settlement must be codified into law. Third, our state needs to continue to invest in a strong social and behavioral health care workforce, early childhood care and education, and poverty reduction.
Q&A: House District 19 candidate Janelle Anyanonu*
New Mexico’s children continue to suffer as a result of the failures of CYFD. It is our responsibility as a society to protect our children. I support the improvements underway at CYFD, but I also support increased transparency and legislation to hold the department accountable if it fails our children.
Q&A: House District 19 candidate Kathleen Jackson*
CYFD is currently so understaffed it puts staff in danger. Lone women are asked to supervise violent teens. Solution: increase pay to attract more staff. Average monthly case load is 30 per case worker — too many to give each case the needed attention. Currently unable to attract/keep added staff.
Q&A: House District 19 candidate Enrique Cardiel*
A renovation led by review of failures in any system is important. Looking at any failures in CYFD will be key.
Q&A: House District 18 candidate Gail Chasey*
We need to focus more on prevention, which will be costly initially, but saves many children and families from trauma, and ultimately provides a return on investment. CYFD needs greater financial support to hire and retain better-skilled staff and change its culture. We need an ombud program for CYFD.
Q&A: House District 17 candidate Cynthia Borrego*
Protecting children’s safety and welfare is our most important responsibility. Critical staffing shortages must be addressed immediately, and average caseloads must be aligned to “best practice” standards. Training and safety protocols must be strengthened so overworked employees in stressful jobs are better equipped and prepared.
Q&A: House District 17 candidate Ellis McMath*
As an Albuquerque reserve police officer, I have responded to calls-for-service related to welfare checks on possibly neglected children. I have worked with CYFD personnel on individual cases. I believe these experiences uniquely qualify me to study existing policy with a view toward improving operations, transparency and accountability within the department.
Q&A: House District 15 candidate Kimberly A. Kaehr-MacMillan*
New Mexico is number 49 in the nation for child welfare. Our state is failing our most precious resources, our children. CYFD needs a complete overhaul and there should be complete transparency and accountability. The needs and safety of the children should be top priority.
Q&A: House District 15 candidate Laura Gutierrez*
I believe that accountability for this agency starts at the top and if a governor cannot get the agency under control then an ombudsman or oversight commission should be employed to assist with making recommendations and improving the public’s awareness of the issues in the agency that need addressed.
Q&A: House District 15 candidate Day Hochman-Vigil*
In addition to imposing additional transparency and specific accountability measures such as the submission of benchmark data to track progress and the creation of an independent ombudsman office, employee retention and morale must be brought up at CYFD to better assist the agency in realizing its mission and purpose.
Q&A: House District 11 candidate Javier Martínez*
My team has been working diligently with a group of legislators on this very issue this interim. We are working on sustainable solutions to address these challenges head on. The current system is clearly not working.
Q&A: House District 10 candidate G. Andrés Romero*
We provide all of the necessary resources to our social workers to provide families with thorough investigations, care giving and mental health services. It is imperative that we recruit, train and maintain our social workers in the field who are overburdened and overworked.
Q&A: House District 6 candidate Eliseo Alcon*
CYFD needs to be held to the strictest standards and employees held accountable for decisions they make. I would look for increased training requirements, increase staffing and require transparency in all areas of the agency.
Q&A: House District 7 candidate Danny Bernal Jr.*
My opponent will be another ten years of promises NOT kept with CYFD, just like her predecessor. First, establish goals, policies and procedures to guide prioritization, decision-making and resources. Second, increase training and education. Lastly, require strict performance reviews and audits that address the established goals.
Q&A: House District 2 candidate Matt Dodson
We have had foster children. A lack of transparency results in a lack of correcting cases of abuse. When foster parents or state employees tasked with caring for children in their care commit child abuse, they and anyone covering it up need to be prosecuted.
EDITOR’S NOTE: CYFD is NOT Underfunded.
As we head into the 2023 60-day legislative session, it's worth reminding everyone that in the last fiscal year, 2021, CYFD *reverted* $14 million dollars.
That means, of the original budget allocated from the state legislature, CYFD *did NOT spend all of their funds* and reverted -- or refunded -- the unused, unspent dollars back the state general fund.
Let's hope for NO reversions (and certainly not into the millions of dollars of funds meant to keep kids safe) in the future.
CYFD DATA: CURRENT RATE OF VACANCIES & TURNOVER RATE
Click here to access past 13 months of CYFD "Desktop reports.”
In Case You Missed It, Recent Media Headlines:
Report details a ‘culture of fear’ inside CYFD
ABQ Journal, July 22nd, 2022
Read full article here →
Child protective services staff are feeling overworked, underappreciated and experience a “culture of fear” at the state Children, Youth and Families Department when a child previously on their radar has been seriously hurt or killed, according to a newly released study.
Sometimes front-line workers are “left feeling as though they are making little difference with the families they are working to help,” the study states. “Staff experience recidivism with the families they are working with and are often trying to work with families that have little to no desire to engage with the child welfare system.”