Taos, NM — Today, members of the Child Welfare & Early Childhood Subcommittee were presented with a quarterly agency report card for the Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD). This Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) report card reflects a continuation of poor performance and outcomes for youth. Furthermore, CYFD has again failed to meet the requirements for additional federal funding for evidence-based prevention programs because the department does not have an approved Family First Prevention Services Act plan. Additionally, members of the Child Welfare & Early Childhood Subcommittee unanimously approved a motion from Senator Nicole Tobiassen to issue a letter to the Attorney General and State Auditor requesting an investigation into CYFD for the misappropriation of funds.
Legislative Finance Committee member Senator Nicole Tobiassen (R-Albuquerque) has issued the following statement:
"Disappointed, but not surprised," said Senator Nicole Tobiassen. "Once again, CYFD is failing New Mexico's most vulnerable children—and the consequences are deadly. This isn't a funding issue. It's a failure of leadership and broken culture. Exit interviews show that 1 in 5 employees leave because they feel unsupported from the top. This department is abandoning the very people tasked with protecting our kids, and the result is chaos, suffering, and death. CYFD has become a broken record of dangerous dysfunction. I will not stand by while children pay the price. We must pursue every option—urgently—to fix this agency and save lives."
