CYFD still struggles with staffing "crisis," too few foster

Nov. 17—Four years into a legal agreement aimed at improving care of abused and neglected children, the state Children, Youth and Families Department has yet to achieve key promised reforms, according to two national experts.

As a top priority this year, the experts are advising the agency to proactively seek authority to hire new employees to tackle a staffing “crisis” that is creating high caseloads and burnout among protective services caseworkers and managers.

“There are some bright spots and areas for optimism about the future,” stated an Oct. 1 letter from the two “co-neutrals” who have been monitoring compliance with a slate of reforms at the child welfare agency. Services for Native children and families have improved, they found. And there is now a single managed care organization for medical and behavioral needs of children in state care due to neglect or abuse. They have also praised CYFD for its recruitment of relative foster parents and found some caseloads are within set standards.

But certain reforms have stalled.

For instance, the number of abused and neglected children staying in CYFD offices doubled in the second half of 2023, with police being called via 911 in nearly 50 “critical incidents” at CYFD offices around the state. The children are some of the hardest to place because of emotional trauma and other issues and are staying in some of the least desirable conditions because of a lack of suitable foster homes.

Moreover, the experts found the number of foster homes in New Mexico hasn’t increased since 2021, with 120 licensed foster homes added in 2023. That’s far short of the 190 target the agency agreed to under a 2023 corrective action plan. The plan was sought by a group of New Mexico child welfare attorneys, agencies and foster children who sued CYFD and the then-state Human Services Department in 2018.

The experts evaluated data from the year 2023, the same year a new team took over running CYFD, which conducts investigations of child abuse and neglect and works with the courts, families and others to ensure the children are placed in safe, caring homes. The report from Kevin Ryan of Public Catalyst and Judith Meltzer of the Center for the Study of Social Policy is required under a settlement in 2020 of a federal lawsuit dubbed Kevin S., a reference to one of the foster children named as a plaintiff.

“Although there are many dedicated staff committed to your work and the success of the Kevin S. agreement, overall, we continue to be extremely concerned about the barriers to acceptable performance: high caseloads, staff turnover, children staying/sleeping in CYFD county offices (and) lack of safe and appropriate family-based placements and community-based services,…” said the Oct. 1 letter to CYFD Secretary Teresa Casados, and Kari Armijo, secretary for the state Health Care Authority, the agency that replaced the state Human Services Department.

A spokeswoman for CYFD told the Journal in an email on Friday that the agency doesn’t believe the annual report gives CYFD “adequate justice for its actions.”

“We believe that we are making steady progress on numerous fronts to improve our operations, services, staffing, recruitment efforts, and other areas.” The agency said it is striving to advance and implement improvements “that will create long-lasting and meaningful change.”

Foster care

Although the number of children in foster care declined each year between 2019 and 2022, the number rose to 1,942 children by December 2023, according to the co-neutrals’ follow-up 169-page report released Friday. The report was a follow-up to the Oct. 1 letter.

Some of the findings:

“Most of the CYFD staff with whom the co-neutrals have spoken to in multiple offices throughout the state reported the ongoing responsibility of supervising children who are sleeping overnight in CYFD offices.

“In 2023, there was a sharp and alarming jump in the number of children being housed in offices, particularly in the second half of the year,” the report stated.

There were 322 placements of children in offices in 2023, more than double the 139 office placements in 2022. Between July 2023 and December 2023, CYFD reports there were 52 critical incidents involving children housed in offices, which resulted in a 911 call. Such reports are required if there is an allegation of harm, an allegation of abuse and/or neglect, an allegation of restraint/seclusion, or a change in licensure of a facility.

About 88% were 911 calls made by CYFD staff involving the children housed in the offices. “Many staff reported that children’s behaviors when housed in the offices are negatively impacted by the conditions they are experiencing and the inattention to their needs.”

“Staff report that they are not trained or supported to provide the care and support these children need to feel safe and stable, and as a result, their trauma and feelings of abandonment multiply.”

High caseloads have been a chronic problem for CYFD investigators and workers, and agency officials have noted that lawmakers last legislative session denied a CYFD request for funding to add more protective services workers.

But the co-neutrals are recommending CYFD leaders take “every reasonable step” as rapidly as possible to ensure adequate staffing and repair conditions in the CYFD offices. Make it a priority to hire more staff by getting authority now to increase FTEs (full-time equivalent positions) to “get ahead of attrition that will continue until the workforce is stabilized.”

They added that the state should also create and fill new positions that are solely responsible for after-hours child abuse and neglect investigations and emergencies.

In interviews with the experts, CYFD staff reported “that they do in fact routinely work more than their compensated hours with an offer of flex time that they cannot use if they meet the needs of their jobs.

“Without exception, staff reported that this system of mandatory overtime to conduct child abuse and neglect investigations, respond to emergencies, and provide office-based childcare is the biggest source of burn-out and attrition, and has adversely affected their personal lives and their own families.”

The annual report is the fourth issued by the co-neutrals and was based on interviews conducted at offices and elsewhere with employees, supervisors, foster families and others.

“We reported this to you last year and it remains prevalent currently across CYFD: in multiple instances and in numerous counties, CYFD caseworkers and supervisors said they have been forced to go without sleep for more than 24 hours because of the mandatory overnight and weekend shift on top of their existing responsibilities, sometimes several times per months, including in instances during extensive drives when they have been required to transport children. This practice remains a serious safety concern. Over and over again, CYFD staff and supervisors said the practice has fueled numerous colleagues’ decisions to resign.”

Workers in some offices reported recent improvement in filing vacancies and reducing caseloads, the co-neutrals stated,” but even in those offices, workers worry that these improvements are transitory as staff are subsequently asked or required to take on additional responsibilities in other offices that have problems or unexpected staff vacancies.”

Though CYFD had agreed to keep CYFD supervisors from taking on child abuse or neglect cases, the co-neutrals wrote, “Many CYFD supervisors with whom we spoke reported they directly carry children’s cases and were concerned they haven’t been able to supervise their staff appropriately.

“Until CYFD addresses these realities with real solutions, the agency will continue to experience high caseloads and substantial vacancies, and incur the extensive costs of recruiting and training staff, only to lose them within the first 18 months of their employment.”

New Jersey, Michigan and Oklahoma’s child welfare agencies are proactively overhiring in anticipation of work surges and expected attrition, the co-neutrals reported.

“If CYFD continues to wait for staff to quit before beginning the hiring process for their replacements,” they said, “the agency will continue to experience a severe shortage of staff and be burdened by dangerous caseloads that are far higher than the State committed to achieve.”

Moreover, the experts stated, “CYFD has not recovered from the decision to suspend hiring last summer. Hiring has not kept up with attrition and because of the time needed to onboard and train new staff, workloads are excessive for many workers.”

Hiring was “paused” by Casados for several months in summer 2023 as part of an agency reorganization.

“None of the states with which we have worked have stopped hiring and training of casework staff in the midst of efforts to reform. And in fact, the New Mexico staffing crisis calls for escalating both hiring and expanding/accelerating training opportunities.”

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