ROSWELL, NM – The Child Protective Services Division filled eight of 11 available positions during a rapid hire event at the Roswell office on Thursday.

The open positions included investigation case workers, placement caseworkers, permanent placement caseworkers, HIS practitioners, and senior and supervisor roles.

"To make CYFD successful, we need dedicated employees, and we are ready to welcome these new hires soon," said New Mexico Department of Children, Youth and Families Department Secretary Designate Teresa Casados. "I know adding staff quickly is critical to getting children the care and services they deserve. These rapid hires allow us to use cross-agency collaboration and remove the burden of hiring from managers to speed up the process to fill these vital positions."

"The positions we filled on Thursday provide direct services to kids and families in New Mexico," said Valerie Sandoval, Deputy Secretary of Protective Services and Juvenile Justice. "We're focusing on raising morale and increasing retention of current employees through hiring additional staff and providing more support and training."

In the last month, the department hired 24 people, including 11 employees transferring to CYFD from other agencies. The case workers hired on Thursday will add to the 719 case workers across the agency, and in the next month, 17 new employees have start dates.