On April 8, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez released the 224 page report on the investigation by the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ) of the New Mexico Children Youth and Family’s Department (CYFD) and its handling of abused and neglected children placed in its care. The NMDOJ investigation report was scathing. It declared New Mexico’s child welfare system is int crisis. The NMDOJ investigation into the CYFD identified systemic failures that have repeatedly endangered the children CYFD is sworn to protect. The investigation found the failures are not isolated and they are pervasive, deeply entrenched, and too often result in preventable harm.
The investigation report is entitled “Systemic Failures: How CYFD Endangers The Children Its Meant To Protect”. The link to review the entire 224 page report is here:
https://nmdoj.gov/publications/cyfd-report/
According to the 224 page report released by the New Mexico Department of Justice, the rampant dysfunction within CYFD largely comes down to two issues:
- Prioritizing reunification of children with families at the expense of the child’s safety.
- Misusing state confidentiality laws to keep information from the public.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez said this:
“Confidentiality provisions have been weaponized by that agency, as a form of intimidation and retaliation not only against their own employees but others who have information about the failures.”
LAWSUITE FILED
During the April 8 press conference releasing the NMDOJ report, Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced that the NMDOJ also filed a lawsuit against CYFD alleging the child welfare agency intentionally obstructed its investigation by improperly citing confidentiality laws designed to protect children’s privacy in abuse and neglect cases. The Justice Department alleges CYFD used those confidentiality laws to intimidate staff and foster parents expressing concerns about its practices. The lawsuit alleges that CYFD management threatened whistleblowers, including former employees, if they came forward.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez said he plans to work with state lawmakers to pursue legislative reforms of the child welfare system, but he believes the Roundhouse must rebuild CYFD from scratch. Torrez said this:
“I am of the view that the Legislature should start with a blank piece of paper. … Instead of trying to redesign a broken house, start with a blank sheet of paper and build what you think needs to exist from the ground up, and then see if you can map that on to the existing structure. … I’m not sure that you can, to be perfectly honest with you, in part because it’s not only a structural problem, it’s a cultural problem.”
House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, said he did not disagree with Torrez’s suggestion to rebuild CYFD from the ground up. Speaker Martinez noted he has sponsored legislation in the last 3 years to move control of the child welfare agency out from under the governor to an independent commission. He also said CYFD is spread too thin to be effective, given it manages both protective services and juvenile justice programs, a point also made by the Justice Department in its report. Speaker Martínez said this:
“The truth of the matter is, the agency has long outlived its usefulness, quite frankly. The fact that we have the same agency dealing with foster children also dealing with criminal justice is insane, and that has to change.”
SPECIAL SESSION SUGGESTED
During the last two legislative sessions, state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle introduced dozens of bills in an attempt to fix CYFD. During the 2025 Legislative Session, lawmakers created a watchdog group for the agency called the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA). In light of the AG’s investigation, some lawmakers say it’s time to pull the department out from under the governor’s oversight. Speaker of the House Javier Martinez, (D-Albuquerque), said this:
“We’re not going to rest until CYFD is pulled from outside of executive purview. It needs to be its own agency. It needs to answer to its own commission, and it needs to ensure that children are protected.”
State Senator Crystal Brantley (R-Elephant Butte) said this:
“We need to come in, in a non-partisan way, very quickly and swiftly to bring massive overhaul changes to this organization, to dismantle this agency and rebuild it from the ground up. ”
With this being a gubernatorial election year, some lawmakers are saying it’s a critical time to get something done. Senator Brantley said this:
“I believe that some sort of change, and perhaps with the shift of a new governor, it doesn’t need to come out from underneath the governor, but it does need to have continued oversight.”
Albuquerque area Democrat State Senator Michael Padilla said the ongoing failures of CYFD detailed in the report were “unacceptable for the protection of New Mexico’s children.” However, he noted CYFD has struggled for many years and said the blame did not lie with Lujan Grisham’s administration.
Senator Padilla said he plans to propose legislation next year that would move governance of CYFD to a board of regents rather than the governor. The panel should include people experienced in child welfare such as a behavioral health specialist and a foster parent, and that it should have an executive director to closely oversee the child welfare system who would not turn over when a new governor is elected. Padilla said this:
“I think this allows for long-range planning, budgeting, financing, goal-setting and development for the people that do this very important work. … This is a perfect time, actually, we have a new governor coming to office; they’re not going to have the battle scars if you will, of what’s happened over the past 24 years.”
Speaker of the House Martinez said that he’s open to discussions with Attorney General Raúl Torrez and a potential Special Session to reform CYFD. Martinez said this:
“If the governor were willing to call [a Special Session], we would be at the table, with a range of possible proposals and solutions to fix this agency.”
Speaker Martinez and Senator Padilla have both said they plan to re-introduce proposals next session, moving CYFD to an independent state agency outside the governor’s control.
ATTORNEY GENERAL RAÚL TORREZ REJECTS SPECIAL SESSION TALK
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez for his part is welcoming all ideas from state lawmakers to reform the Children, Youth, and Families Department and goes on to say that lawmakers must be on the forefront to advocate real change. However, Torrez has made it very clear that he does not want Governor Lujan Grisham to convene a Special Session of the legislature. Torrez says that the convening of a Special Session is not the answer but that the legislature needs to wait for the election of a new governor in November and allow the 2027 legislature to deal with the crisis with real solutions. Torrez said this:
“I think the next governor is going to be expected to have a comprehensive plan for dealing with this in January next year. And it’s my hope that between now and then, candidates for that office and members of the legislature can really start honing in on what those ideas look like, and they can put this at the top of their agenda to act on [it in January.] … I don’t get a sense that the kind of broad restructuring of this agency that has been apparent for years now is something that is going to get traction in the current sort of climate, the current context. So I’m really focused on the future.”
Torrez said any serious candidate for Governor must have a plan to address the culture of CYFD and its lack of accountability, or they are not qualified to lead the state.
Torrez has pointed out that both political parties agree that something needs to be done and says it’s a unifying factor for New Mexicans. If issues with CYFD are properly handled, Torrez believes there will be a direct positive impact on reducing crime. He has said that during his time as the Bernalillo County District Attorney, he found that the children who do survive foster care often end up in the criminal justice system.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has appointed four secretaries over her eight years in office. Torrez said leadership is a driving factor behind the agency’s systemic failures, but acknowledges it goes back decades, well before the current administration.
The link to the relied upon or quoted news source is here:
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Any and all talk of a Special Session before the end of the second term of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on January 1, 2027 should cease and desist. The blunt reality is that Governor Lujan Grisham is a lame duck and her influence is waning. Lujan Grisham for the last two years has essentially resisted all reforms of CYFD and its likely she will not change her attitude and her resistance to change and reforms. The new governor should not be hamstrung with decisions made by a hastily conferred Special Session.
It is no surprise that the legislators are already talking about reforming the CYFD agency during the 2027 legislative session. The discussion no doubt will start with the recommendations contained in the NMSOJ investigative report. The recommendations made in the NMDOJ report are commendable, but the blunt reality is that they will likely take years to achieve. The level of corruption and dereliction of duty by CYFD is likely so extensive that it would be best to simply abolish the department for the level of incompetence over so many decades.
LAWSUIT FILED DOES NOT GO FAR ENOUGH
On April 8 Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced that the NMDOJ filed a lawsuit against CYFD alleging the child welfare agency intentionally obstructed its investigation by improperly citing confidentiality laws designed to protect children’s privacy in abuse and neglect cases.
The NMDOJ lawsuit does not go far enough. AG Torrez in the NMDOJ lawsuit filed against CYFD should seek the complete takeover of CYFD by the courts. The New Mexico Courts, perhaps even the Supreme Court, need to intervene with a complete takeover of CYFD with the appointment of a Special Master to begin an aggressive agenda to bring the department under control until the legislature can act.
The suffering and abuse of New Mexico’s children is preventable and must be stopped immediately. The CYFD crisis is immediate and needs aggressive legal action by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez.
CREATE INDEPENDENT AGENCY
During the 2027 legislative session, the New Mexico legislature needs to step in and abolish the Children’s Youth and Family Department as it is today and create a new, independent agency that is overseen by a governing board, much like what has been proposed by New Mexico Speaker of the House Javier Martinez.
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