The New Mexico Child Welfare Agency may not be making good use of money that lawmakers have allocated in recent years to fund pilot programs to address the agency’s problems, according to a presentation Wednesday.
In 2024, the state Department of Children, Youth and Families was allocated approximately $18.7 million over the following three years through the Government Results and Opportunity Program, which funds temporary projects to determine their effectiveness before the Legislature permanently funds them.
However, CYFD failed to spend and return more than $5.2 million on the four programs to the Legislature, according to the presentation to the Legislative Finance Committee on Wednesday. Legislative analysts also found that some of the programs — which include preventive services and salary incentives for qualified social workers in foster care — failed to have a significant impact.
Lawmakers raised concerns that the department had not used the funds it received, noting that little of the data presented to them showed how lawmakers’ investments improved outcomes for children.
“There is no disagreement about more money for a better job,” said Rep. Nathan Small, a Democrat from Las Cruces and chairman of the committee. “That outcome-level data isn’t fully there yet, to be honest.”
Although Small acknowledged that CYFD had reported some progress, he added the overall report The lack of insightful data was because “very little money was spent in the first year of implementation.”
MPs from both parties criticized the ministry.
“These are arbitrary numbers that don’t tell us a result,” said Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences. “You don’t compare an input to an outcome.”
Acting CYFD Cabinet Secretary Valerie Sandoval acknowledged that the agency had difficulty spending the money, particularly in the first year CYFD received it. But she argued that the agency “has a track record of success” and urged lawmakers to continue investing in the programs.
“While we are very grateful for the GRO funding we received, we urge the committee and Legislature to include these pilot projects in the CYFD base budget, which would provide stability, consistency and sustainability to this department,” she said.
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Social workers struggle
CYFD had difficulty hiring child protective services workers with social work degrees despite $1.7 million in funding for the pilot program, legislative analysts reported in a letter accompanying the department’s presentation.
As of the end of 2025, only 264 employees across the agency had social work degrees, and only about half were licensed social workers. In the agency’s frontline protective services division, only 128 employees had social work degrees, half of them master’s degrees, and only 26 were licensed, the order said.
The total number of licensed social workers across the department increased by just a dozen in 2025, from 122 to 134, the report said.
Legislative analysts found that efforts in the pilot program’s first year to encourage employees with master’s degrees in social work to remain with the agency by implementing a temporary 10% pay increase benefited only 48 workers and did not result in increased retention.
Sandoval said CYFD resumed efforts in January to attract people with social work degrees and motivate current employees to earn them. The current initiative impacts over 50 employees with licenses at the master’s, bachelor’s and preliminary levels, she said.
She acknowledged that CYFD wants to have as many employees as possible with social work licenses.
“If we get a list of [the State Personnel Office] “And when we see that someone has a degree or license in social work, we absolutely make sure we have them in an interview and prioritize those who do,” Sandoval said. “I think at the end of the day we want every single social worker to have a degree or license in social work.”
Rep. Meredith Dixon, D-Albuquerque, highlighted the fact that only 5% of the Protective Services Division’s employees have licenses and master’s degrees, while noting that staffing funding in that department has increased nearly 50% since fiscal year 2019.
“It sounds like we still have a long way to go,” she said.
Money not spent
Investments to curb the state’s higher-than-average rate of repeat child abuse also had a muted impact, analysts said.
In May, 16% of children in New Mexico who had previously experienced abuse and neglect were abused again. The national benchmark is 9%.
In fiscal year 2025, CYFD spent just 10% of legislatively appropriated funds on expanding prevention and intervention programs, analysts wrote. Then, last year, the agency finally received approval for a plan to draw on funds under the federal Family First Prevention Services Act.
They include SafeCare, which legislative analysts have described as a home-visiting program for children ages 5 and younger who are at risk of maltreatment. However, by the end of fiscal year 2026, CYFD had enrolled 25 families in the program – only one of which had completed it. Seventy-eight declined the program, Sandoval said.
She acknowledged that the state failed to spend funds in fiscal year 2025 and said the low uptake of SafeCare by families was due in part to the fact that the program — which is divided into 18 one-hour sessions — takes too long. However, she praised the use of CYFD funds to open six Family Resource Centers, which are facilities that help connect families with services they may need.
In 2025, these facilities served 1,400 families, Sandoval said.
“We believe that expanding prevention and intervention programs such as SafeCare and Family Resource Center programs will help families strengthen protective factors, reduce stress and reduce the likelihood of future involvement in CYFD,” she said.
This article first appeared on Searchlight New Mexico.
https://searchlightnm.org/cyfd-pilot-programs-have-seen-mixed-results-with-money-left-on-table-presentation-says/
