Latest news with #Casados
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
NMCYFD Secretary acknowledges department's shortcomings, says changes are being made
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The woman taking over the New Mexico Children, Youth, and Families Department is inheriting a troubled department. For years, CYFD has routinely failed to protect New Mexico's children from abuse and neglect. Secretary Teresa Casados is acknowledging CYFD's problems while trying to forge a new path. Story continues below News: Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham authorizes National Guard deployment to Albuquerque Trending: NMSU: 6 international students' visas revoked by federal government News: Suspect in custody after fleeing from police in a U-Haul with people in the back Education: Curanderismo in the classroom: Albuquerque high school teacher introduces students to Mexican folk healing Lawmakers unleashed on her this Legislative session over the deaths of children, some during her tenure, that they say could have been prevented. 'I took on this role to lead this and knew that there would be criticisms based on, you know, the role in general. And I don't take those personally,' said Casados. Casados said she knows her agency is broken. 'But I think we also have an opportunity that we missed, and that's in bringing people together to really solve the problem…'Not what people are talking about that aren't working in that day in and day out, but let's focus on the problems and focus on finding a solution, and then all come together to work towards that. I think that's what's going to change the department and change the outcomes that we're seeing. And until we can do that, I don't think any amount of legislation, you can't legislate your way out of a situation,' said Casados. Casados said it starts with prevention, which is why she bolstered support for families struggling with situations that could lead to abuse or neglect. 'It really gives them the ability to get stabilization for what they need, right, and without removing kids, and being able to keep that unit together and support that mom. You know, there may be times when temporarily we have to remove them so they can get stabilized, but this really gives them an opportunity to get back on their feet.' Deputy Secretary Kathey Phoenix-Doyle leads the Behavioral Health and Family Services Divisions. 'We had a young mom, two children, and she found herself in a situation where she didn't, she was homeless because of a domestic violence incident that had occurred, and she was protecting her children, her young children, and she's like, I just, I need help. I'm young, you know, she didn't know about resources. She didn't have a family who could back her up,' said Phoenix-Doyle. CYFD has added four family resource centers around the state, and even a mobile one. They have served 800 families so far, and the numbers are growing. 'The important part is not handing them just a brochure with a lot of numbers. It's to say, I'm going to help you until we get you connected to that community resource you may be needing,' said Phoenix-Doyle. Casados said, 'You don't have to do life alone. There are some difficult situations that everyone faces one time or another, and there are people to walk through it with you.' Lawmakers did pass House Bill 5, which would create an Office of Child Advocacy within the New Mexico Department of Justice to oversee CYFD. A move which the secretary welcomes. April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. If someone suspects a child is being abused, it can be reported by dialing #SAFE or calling 855-333-7233. Reports can also be made by texting 505-591-4444. CYFD is also holding more than 30 events across the state. To access the resources CYFD offers, click this link. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CYFD reform efforts inch forward in the Roundhouse
Feb. 21—SANTA FE — One by one, New Mexico's youth, education, health and workforce secretaries lined up in a House committee room Friday to speak against an effort to overhaul the state's Children, Youth and Families Department. Despite the opposition, the House Health and Human Services Committee voted 9-1 to enact House Joint Resolution 5, a measure that would allow voters to remove CYFD from the governor's oversight and instead create a five-member independent commission to hire a CYFD executive director by July 2027. It's not the only CYFD reform effort the committee passed Friday. Members also voted 9-1 to pass House Bill 5, which would create an Office of the Child Advocate administratively attached to the New Mexico Department of Justice, formerly the Attorney General's Office. "We need to do something now. We cannot continue to wait and put this off," said HJR5 bill sponsor Rep. Eleanor Chavez, D-Albuquerque. New Mexico has long struggled to address child welfare issues, and lawmakers have increased spending on CYFD in recent years in an attempt to hire more social workers. However, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has opposed efforts to increase outside oversight of the agency, instead ordering the creation of a new advisory council and office of innovation within CYFD. Both pieces of legislation still need to cross over to the Senate side of the Roundhouse before getting a chance at passage, though only House Bill 5 would require the governor's signature. The efforts have failed in past years. "CYFD welcomes accountability, oversight and partnership in improving CYFD to better serve New Mexicans, but an Office of Child Advocate attached to the Department of Justice just doesn't achieve this," CYFD Secretary Teresa Casados told the committee. Similarly, Deputy Secretary of Protective Services and Juvenile Justice Valerie Sandoval, speaking on behalf of Casados, said other legislative proposals — not HJR5 — would help solve the agency's challenges. "Removing CYFD as a Cabinet-level agency would hinder collaboration with key state agencies essential to child welfare, education and health," she said. She brought up a letter child welfare advocates Judith Meltzer and Kevin Ryan sent earlier this week to Casados and Tara Ford, counsel on a settlement in a lawsuit known as Kevin S., which sought reform of New Mexico's child welfare system. "In our view, child welfare services cannot be successfully operated in a vacuum. ... Commission-led governance is very likely, in our view, to exacerbate many of the problems we have documented in New Mexico," Meltzer and Ryan wrote, both of whom were dubbed "co-neutrals" as part of the settlement to help guide reform efforts. Speaking as a bill expert, Alvin Sallee, a foster parent and professor emeritus for New Mexico State University's social work program, said HJR5 would remove politics from CYFD, eliminating a secretary appointee coming at the whim of any gubernatorial administration. Under the resolution, the five commission members would be appointed staggered six-year terms by the governor, the president pro tempore of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority floor leader of the Senate and the minority floor leader of the House of Representatives. Sallee compared the setup to that of the state's Public Regulation Commission, which recently went through an overhaul to become a three-member appointed commission, all serving staggered six-year Alan Martinez, R-Bernalillo, said he was dead set against HJR5 until the only ones who spoke in opposition were state Cabinet or deputy secretaries. Secretaries Mariana Padilla of the Public Education Department, who still is awaiting Senate confirmation; Kari Armijo of the Health Care Authority; Elizabeth Groginsky of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department; and Sarita Nair of the Department of Workforce Solutions also spoke against HJR5. "It says a lot about circling the wagons and trying to protect the status quo," Martinez said. Rep. Nicole Chavez, R-Albuquerque, voted against HJR5. She told the Journal after the committee she doesn't believe the measure would substantially improve the department; it "shifts the blame for CYFD's ineffectiveness from the Governor's Office to a politically appointed body." "I have appreciated Secretary Casados' involvement and participation during this legislative session and hope we can reform our (Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act) and place safeguards to ensure New Mexico's children are protected," she said. "Our state has invested millions of dollars following the Kevin S. lawsuit and yet CYFD continues to fail our children." Rep. Pamelya Herndon, D-Albuquerque, was the sole vote against HB5. She asked a few clarifying questions on the bill during the discussion but didn't explain her "no" vote afterward. She's also a sponsor of HJR5.
