New Mexico Department of Justice recommends 50 legislative, policy reforms for child welfare agency

The New Mexico Department of Justice on Friday gave state lawmakers dozens of legislative and policy suggestions to reform the state’s troubled child welfare agency.

In a lengthy presentation to the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee, NMDOJ Special Counsel Sean Sullivan told lawmakers that his department has linked 14 child deaths in the last two years to failures in the Children, Youth and Families Department.

The presentation followed up on an April NMDOJ investigative report that alleged CYFD leaders often prioritized family reunification at the expense of children’s safety. Attorney General Raúl Torrez subsequently filed a lawsuit against the agency.

Sullivan told lawmakers that the NMDOJ has identified five systemic failures in the child welfare agency: leadership, workforce and practice breakdowns; missed removals and premature reunifications; gaps in protecting drug-exposed infants; impediments to law enforcement officers and foster parents; and unstable and volatile placements.

He also said CYFD has routinely “weaponized confidentiality” by refusing to release public records to his office, citing child confidentiality protections.

A statement provided to Source NM by CYFD Communications Director Jake Thompson noted that the agency’s leaders read the DOJ report in April when it was released “and immediately discussed each item the DOJ recommended.” Many of the report’s recommendations, the statement said, “were not new, and the department was already addressing them, and continues to do so.”

However, the statement continued, CYFD Cabinet Secretary Valerie Sandoval learned of the report from a media briefing; the agency did not receive a copy of the report, nor did the DOJ “request a meeting or otherwise try to speak with” Sandoval to discuss the report. “We would welcome an opportunity to discuss it with DOJ in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation and provide expert insight and context into the report’s findings and recommendations.”

The presentation also came just days after reports that CYFD staffers earlier this month took a teenage boy out of the foster care system, dropped him at the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in El Paso and instructed him to cross into Ciudad Juárez to reunite with his estranged mother.

Lawmakers condemned the agency’s alleged actions this week. In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Bill Sharer (R-Farmington) called it “madness.”

“Actions made by the governor and her administration jeopardize the safety of our state’s most vulnerable children and the safety of our communities,” he wrote. 

At Friday’s interim committee hearing, lawmakers also expressed their outrage.

“I was getting so mad my hands started shaking,” Rep. William “Bill” Hall (R-Aztec), a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, said after Sullivan concluded his presentation. “This is a breeding ground for predatory behavior.”

Sullivan proposed 35 legislative solutions and 15 policy changes.

On the legislative side, his recommendations include amending state law to require that the CYFD secretary have professional child welfare experience; requiring investigators to wear body cameras during interviews with victims, caregivers and witnesses; and requiring CYFD and the New Mexico Health Care Authority to track and make public data about placements and safety.

Rep. Eleanor Chávez (D-Albuquerque), a former social worker, pushed back on the body-worn camera proposal, in particular.

“One of our primary reasons for being social workers is that we want to establish relationships with families. We want to be there to help,” she said. “If we show up with a body-camera, they’re not going to talk to us. It’s difficult even showing up with the police.”

The other 15 recommended changes focused on CYFD’s internal policies. The NMDOJ’s proposals include improving employee training and retention; instituting supervisory oversight; and implementing a zero-tolerance policy for substantiated retaliation claims.

One lawmaker, Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Las Cruces), wondered if the Legislature could take additional steps, and referenced the state House of Representatives investigatory subcommittee investigating the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

“The House gave itself subpoena authority for the Epstein investigation…my Senate colleagues are sitting there going, ‘Well, why don’t we give ourselves in the Senate subpoena authority?’”

CYFD, in its statement to Source NM, said the agency, over the past 10 months, “has made measurable progress in key areas that improve the care, protections and services provided to New Mexico’s vulnerable children and families.” Those improvements include hiring and training new staff and reducing vacancy rates for “frontline protective service staff” from 28.4% in January 2025 to 19.2% in May, which the agency said has reduced caseloads. CYFD also said it has met benchmarks set by the landmark Kevin S. lawsuit over child welfare in the state, and licensed 73 new non-relative and 324 relative foster homes this year.

“We have expanded the Foster Care + initiative and improved behavioral health services for families,” the statement said. “We’ve substantially improved placements for children who come into foster care, connecting them to relative and non-relative parents and providing them with needed services, treatment and help they need to thrive.”