New Mexico Children Youth and Families leadership, left to right: Kathy Kunkel, deputy secretary; Acting CYFD Secretary Valerie Sandoval; and CYFD Chief Operating Officer Brenda Donald. (Danielle Prokop / Source NM)
New leadership for the troubled New Mexico Children Youth and Families Department said on Tuesday the agency is in the process of overhauling the system that reviews fatalities and critical incidents for children in its care, after failing to meet the deadline to deliver data to independent reviewers.
CYFD was supposed to provide information about deaths and near-deaths in state custody to independent child welfare experts who are overseeing the agency’s reform efforts during a hearing held Tuesday, according to a July order by the arbiter in the ongoing issues in treatment of foster children.
Those reforms trace back to a 2018 class-action lawsuit, informally called Kevin S., which alleged that children neither received adequate treatment nor were placed in appropriate foster homes. The agency and advocates settled the lawsuit in 2020, but CYFD has failed multiple times to meet the deadlines set in the landmark settlement agreement, and was brought into arbitration to address issues including staff turnover, treatment of children in the state’s care and foster parent shortages.
A Sept. 27 letter from the independent child welfare experts overseeing the reforms noted that CYFD had identified “seven fatalities and eight near-fatalities” since Jan. 1, but said that the agency had only provided the children’s initials and “limited information.”
During Tuesday’s status hearing before Charles Peifer, an Albuquerque attorney appointed as arbiter in the case, CYFD leadership acknowledged the agency did not send the data to the independent child welfare experts, who are called co-neutrals.
“The reason it wasn’t delivered timely was that it does have to come from various sources I have to run around, as does my team, to identify it,” Kathy Kunkel, a deputy secretary for the department, said. “We appreciate that this is not a system, and that’s where we are today.”
Kunkel promised the information would be released on Friday, and said a new policy for incidents and a review will be presented by the end of the month.
The nearly three-hour long meeting touched on additional concerns that the agency is not ensuring that children entering the state’s custody see a doctor, and that high staff turnover and burnout are contributing to foster parent attrition.
The agency is one month into new leadership following former CYFD Secretary Teresa Casados’ retirement on Sept. 5. Her departure followed criticism about the state’s reform progress, as well as high-profile suicides of children in the agency’s care this year that sparked investigations by state authorities.
The co-neutrals said the communication with new leadership at CYFD has been “proactive,” but noted that the agency is still slow in releasing data and struggling to meet goals, such as certifying 265 new non-kin foster homes. Instead, they said, between January and August, the agency only licensed 61 homes, less than a quarter of the target. Moreover, they said,
CYFD “has not consistently implemented a coordinated plan or effective strategies” for foster family recruitment and retention.
Kunkel, Acting CYFD Secretary Valerie Sandoval and Chief Operating Officer Brenda Donald all appeared at Tuesday’s hearing.
Donald disputed the co-neutrals’ figures, and said CYFD has 72 new foster homes as of October, and has also added 230 new relatives caring for children in custody.
“We consider that a value and want to continue doing as much as we can to support those placements,” Donald said.
Kunkel also said the state implemented additional payments of $400 per month for foster families willing to take children with higher behavioral and mental health needs.
In closing remarks, Sandoval acknowledged the agency remains far from being in compliance with the requirements of the settlement agreement, but highlighted what she characterized as improvements that have been made: increased pay in the Foster Care plus program; shortened hiring times; and added fixes for pay for multiple types of workers.
“I know that we have a lot of work ahead and we still are a ways away from meeting all of our obligations,” Sandoval said. “But I just want to say that I am committed as the acting cabinet secretary, as well as this team sitting in this room, is very committed and we’re ready to excel and push forward on the obligations.”
Peifer complimented Sandoval’s efforts and commended the team she has put together, but concluded the hearing that more needed to be done for children in state care.
“There have been no shortage of plans and no shortage of well-intentioned people in your position or in the position that your colleagues hold,” he said. “I take for granted that everybody is going to do their best, but success is not based on intentions or statements or expressions of a desire to do better; it’s going to be measured for the purposes of the settlement agreement, compliance for the remedial orders and measurable success for the kids.”
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