New Mexico Dem governor nominee Haaland reiterates plans to overhaul state child welfare agency

Deb Haaland, the former U.S. Interior secretary and Democratic nominee for New Mexico governor, on Tuesday renewed her campaign promise to overhaul the state’s troubled child welfare agency if elected in November.

Haaland first announced her plans to reform the Children, Youth and Families Department in March while competing for the party’s nomination. Her 19-page public safety plan outlined steps to appoint an experienced cabinet secretary, increase pay and boost recruitment efforts and mandate data sharing between the Office of the Child Advocate and the New Mexico State Police, Health Care Authority and the Early Childhood Education and Care Department.

Since that announcement, the New Mexico Department of Justice released an investigative report focused on the agency, which accused it of prioritizing family reunification at the expense of children’s safety, and filed a lawsuit on Tuesday over reports that its staffers took a New Mexico teenager out of foster care, dropped him at the U.S.-Mexico border and instructed him to cross alone into Ciudad Juárez to reunite with his estranged mother.

“The decision to send a child across the border alone is unacceptable. My heart breaks every time a child is harmed because of poor policy,” Haaland said in a statement. “On day one, I will overhaul CYFD. We will start from scratch with a secretary who has the right experience to serve our kids and move toward a system that provides consistent, high-quality care.”

In a news release, Haaland said she will work over time to transition CYFD to an independent commission; reduce staff burnout and turnover; empower and fully fund the Office of the Child Advocate; reduce capacity and decrease wait times for children’s court; improve data collection and foster parent recruitment.

Gregg Hull, the former Rio Rancho mayor and Republican nominee for governor, in a statement called for an independent investigation into the recent reports of CYFD staff dropping a teenager at the border.

“As Governor, I will appoint experienced, accountable leadership at CYFD and make the best interests of the child the controlling standard — not political convenience, bureaucratic expediency or pressure to achieve reunification statistics,” Hull wrote. “Reuniting families can be an important goal, but it must never come at the expense of a child’s safety.”

A spokesperson for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in a statement to Source NM said it is “every governor’s prerogative to install a cabinet of their choosing.”

“In spite of what the headlines suggest, the new leadership team appointed by Gov. Lujan Grisham is making appropriate reforms at CYFD and moving the department in the right direction,” Michael Coleman, Lujan Grisham’s communications director, wrote. “The governor would like to see that progress continue in the next administration, no matter who its leader is.”

Republicans in the state Senate on Wednesday announced they will take up the issue at a hearing in mid-August. Sen. Nicole Tobiassen (R-Albuquerque) will oversee a task force titled “Reimagining CYFD” and, along with fellow Senate Republicans, will hear testimony from former CYFD secretaries and employees, as well as child welfare experts, according to a news release.