Legislative Finance Committee officials found that the number of child abuse deaths in New Mexico more than doubled year-over-year in fiscal 2020, and the state has the second highest rate of recurring child abuse in the country.
The state Department of Children, Youth and Family is also grappling with vacancies and high turnover in key management positions, and oversight of the authorities needs to be improved, the director of the Legislative Finance Committee, David Abbey, wrote in a memo last week several state legislatures.
The legislative review of the CYFD data came after the committee’s lawmakers raised concerns that the agency’s former cabinet secretary Brian Blalock presented inaccurate statistics at a July hearing. According to the Abbey memo, Blalock reported child abuse rates were below the national average, but the committee’s staff found rates nearly double the U.S. rates between 2015 and 2019 when the state ranked sixth highest in the nation occupied. National data is not yet available for fiscal 2020 and 2021, when the state’s rates fell during the coronavirus pandemic. However, the memo also mentioned a likely decline in national numbers due to lack of reporting as children remained isolated in their homes.
Blalock resigned in August amid a cloud of controversy surrounding his department’s use of an encrypted messaging app called Signal. In a whistleblower lawsuit, he is also accused of firing and reprimanding employees who have raised questions and concerns about a computer system contract that has not been advertised.
However, he said his reason for leaving was to help his wife find a new job in California. He will be replaced next week by former Supreme Court Justice Barbara Vigil.
Abbey’s Sept. 23 memo recommending several “next steps” for the division to improve issues was circulated to state lawmakers on the Interim Judiciary, Criminal and Justice Committee during a hearing Tuesday for a recommendation an ombudsman or an office within the youth welfare office.
Senator Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, co-chair of the committee, called Abbey’s memo on CYFD “shocking and outrageous”.
“The fact that the last secretary went and reported the numbers that suggested we were below the national average when we were in fact at the top, only second only to New York, either suggests we were wrong were deceived or the secretary was so clueless about his job that he had no idea he was failing, “said Cervantes.
CYFD Deputy Secretary Terry Locke did not respond to questions about the memo or recommendations made by Legislative Finance Committee staff on Tuesday.
The governor’s office also did not respond to requests for comment.
CYFD spokesman Charlie Moore-Pabst said in a statement late Tuesday: “The Department for Children, Youth and Family is under new leadership this issue and all of its work to protect and improve child welfare with a commitment to transparency, collaboration and accountability approach .”
While the recent spike in child abuse deaths – from 11 in 2019 to 23 in fiscal 2020 – and the high rate of child abuse were among the most alarming aspects of the Abbey memo, a worrying lack of public reporting of child welfare data was also cited and conflicts of interest in some bodies entrusted with supervision.
“There are numerous oversight mechanisms outside of CYFD, however [these] either inadequate or providing outdated information to the public, “the memo reads.” Outside of CYFD at the state level, there are a number of oversight mechanisms in place. CYFD participates in existing child mortality review bodies, including the Child Fatality Review Board (CFRB) and the Maternal Mortality Review (MMR). However, there is a lack of public reports from these bodies, as the CFRB has not published a report since 2015. “
The Child Fatality Review Board plans to release its first report in six years on the causes of child deaths in the state before the end of 2021, the memo added.
The memo stated that the Department of Children, Youth and Family has an Inspector General charged with a wide range of oversight duties, including employee misconduct, but the Inspector General’s Office does not publicize its work, has an vacancy rate of 33 percent and “has an inherent conflict of interest” because it falls under the cabinet secretary.
The agency has a new children’s rights office, the memo says, but the first director has been sacked.
Abbey’s memo lists several recommendations for the agency, including the following:
- Appoint a permanent protection services director to replace an acting director – or promote the acting director to the permanent position.
- Implement research-based hiring practices, including using information from exit surveys to identify issues that affect employee retention.
- Proceed to a pilot “differentiated response” to child welfare issues – which includes assessing families, identifying needs, and seeking support from community services – and create an expansion plan.
- Integrate federal child abuse death reporting into public filing documents for greater transparency.
- Put a stronger focus on evidence-based prevention and early intervention resources.
The members of the judiciary, prison and justice committee also discussed the possibility of an ombudsman to strengthen supervision of the agency. At least 22 states have such an office, according to a memo from Abbey, and New Mexico legislation was passed – most recently in 2020 – to set up one for CYFD.
Committee co-chair Gail Chasey, D-Albuquerque, said she hoped to assemble a task force to investigate the option or find other ways to improve oversight of CYFD.
“We really need an ombudsman,” said Rep. Kelly Fajardo, R-Los Lunas. “I have been told by employees that they have filed complaints against their supervisors, and the person conducting the investigation is their supervisor.
“We have some amazing people at CYFD,” she added, “but let’s face it – we also have some people who shouldn’t be there and we have no way of knowing who those people are.”
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