How has New Mexico\u2019s Children, Youth and Families Department gotten it so tragically wrong so many times? Don\u2019t you wonder?<\/p>\n
A recent special report by KOAT television highlighted the story of 4-year-old James Dunklee Cruz, beaten to death by his mother\u2019s male roommate after numerous previous incidents had been documented. He had been sent back to his mother\u2019s home by CYFD multiple times though there were loving relatives who wanted to take him. Those who speak for CYFD have not answered the simple question: why did they send him back?<\/p>\n
A recent news report said Rep. Gail Armstrong became so frustrated at a committee hearing that CYFD staff could not answer simple statistical questions that she walked out of the meeting.<\/p>\n
Apparently the requirement to keep cases confidential has been followed to the extreme by CYFD. Armstrong told me confidentiality was the reason given for an incident in which CYFD officials deleted text messages.<\/p>\n
Writing about CYFD a few months ago, I highlighted the priority given to keeping families together. Public policy \u2013 not just in New Mexico — places a high value on keeping children with parents because evidence shows children are deeply traumatized by being removed from their parents. But what we seem not to know, because nobody\u2019s answering the question, is where CYFD draws the line between leaving the child with an incompetent parent and determining that in a particular case the risk is too great. In other words, what the heck is CYFD\u2019s policy?<\/p>\n
New Mexico law says the safety and health of the child comes first.<\/p>\n
Rep. Marian Matthews says the language of the state Children\u2019s Code is clear \u2013 and it looks clear to me — but Matthews keeps hearing that other people either are confused or think family preservation has higher priority. Regardless, we don\u2019t know what CYFD believes because nobody will say.<\/p>\n
The annotation for a 1987 appellate case says, \u201cBest interests of children is paramount consideration.<\/strong> Parents do not have an absolute right to their children, for any right is secondary to the best interests and welfare of the children.\u201d<\/p>\n Within the child welfare profession, it is understood that when a child is left with problem parents, social services involvement must be intensive; that could mean daily visits by a social worker. New Mexico has a few private nonprofit organizations that provide a high level of support for clients, but they all have limited capacity. If CYFD has been providing the necessary degree of intervention, it\u2019s another part of the story that is not being disclosed. But that\u2019s very unlikely; we know there is not nearly enough professional staff.<\/p>\n In several of our dreadfully tragic cases, the perpetrator was a live-in boyfriend who was not the child\u2019s father. That, to point out the obvious, is not family unification. That person is not a family member. If the boyfriend \u2013 or any household member, for that matter \u2013 has behaved badly toward a small child, does CYFD have the authority to require that he (or she) be barred from the household as a condition of keeping the child?<\/p>\n Who is family anyway? In the Children\u2019s Code I could not find a definition of the word \u201cfamily.\u201d James Cruz\u2019 aunt and grandfather looked like they might qualify as family. Maybe we need a definition in the statute.<\/p>\n Legislators have been working on this issue for several years. The plan proposed in our recent legislative session \u2013 an independent Office of Child Advocate located outside CYFD \u2013 seems like the best available next step toward a solution. The office would have to be empowered to have full access to confidential files. The bill to create that office almost made it through the legislature this year.<\/p>\n It is past time for a special or extraordinary legislative session to get this under control.<\/p>\n \u00a9 2023 NEW MEXICO NEWS SERVICES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How has New Mexico\u2019s Children, Youth and Families Department gotten it so tragically wrong so many times? Don\u2019t you wonder? A recent special report by KOAT television highlighted the story of 4-year-old James Dunklee Cruz, beaten to death by his … Continue reading