House speaker signals CYFD oversight bills will be brought back at the Roundhouse
Sep. 18—SANTA FE — New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez signaled Wednesday that House Democrats will push a package of bills during the upcoming 60-day legislative session aimed at bolstering New Mexico's beleaguered child welfare system.
That package will include proposals to add more outside oversight to the Children, Youth and Families Department, he said.
"You can expect those bills to come back," Martínez said during a Wednesday legislative committee hearing in Albuquerque.
That could set up a showdown with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who opposed such proposals in the 2023 legislative session.
During Wednesday's hearing, Martínez and other lawmakers expressed frustration about recent child welfare trends in the state, including high staff turnover and increased child maltreatment rates.
"It's hard for me to understand why we are so resistant to outside perspectives," said Martínez, an Albuquerque Democrat who has been speaker of the House since 2023.
He also said the state's child welfare crisis was inherited by Lujan Grisham but added that after five-plus years, her administration "owns it" now.
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, 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.
Agency Secretary Teresa Casados testified Wednesday the agency has held job fairs around New Mexico this year and launched digital billboards in an attempt to recruit more workers.
But she also said, in response to lawmakers' questions, that there are about 20 children being housed temporarily in CYFD offices due to a shortage of licensed foster parents.
Casados also said she is not opposed to outside oversight of the agency, but said it already receives ample scrutiny under a 2020 legal settlement and from other groups.
"I just feel like there is a lot of oversight right now," Casados told members of a Legislative Finance Committee subcommittee.
Meanwhile, the legislative push to revamp the state's child welfare system could be bipartisan, as Republican lawmakers have also expressed frustration.
Rep. Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena, said Wednesday she would not want Casados' job, but said she's exhausted from hearing reports of new CYFD initiatives that ultimately don't lead to systemic changes.
"When are we going to make a difference?" she asked, before imploring Casados to "Fix it, please."
Casados was appointed in November 2023 as the governor's third CYFD secretary since Lujan Grisham took office in 2019.
Martínez cited the Cabinet-level turnover in his Wednesday remarks, saying, "There's something that's not working — something's missing."
He also said the state's inability to reduce child maltreatment rates has cast a cloud on New Mexico's progress in other areas, including expanding pre-kindergarten and other early childhood programs.
"Public safety begins with the safety of our kids in their homes," Martínez said.
New Mexico has paid out more than $21 million in settlements dealing with abused and neglected children since 2021, which has caused CYFD's insurance premiums to rise.
Meanwhile, the tension over New Mexico's child welfare system could represent another area of disagreement between the Governor's Office and top-ranking Democratic lawmakers.
A special session focused on crime issues that Lujan Grisham called in July ended in a matter of hours with lawmakers not taking up most of the governor's bills.
