The Children, Youth, and Families Department will be holding a rapid hiring event
As staffing issues have been a chronic challenge for CYFD, a problem highlighted by the Kevin S. settlement agreement , which called for more caseworkers at the agency.
According to a Legislative Finance Report, CYFD has improved staffing in protective services, but turnover is still over 30%.
Cabinet Secretary Teresa Casados said the rapid hiring event will focus on recruiting protective service professionals, but there are opportunities across the agency.
"We’re looking for finance people, we’re looking for attorneys for children’s court attorneys, juvenile correctional officers, and of course our protective services division, so investigators, caseworkers" said Casados.
Virtual interviews will be available through New Mexico Workforce Connection so Casados said applicants can be anywhere in the state.
The Albuquerque event will be held January 23rd at EXPO New Mexico from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The agency has also come under fire for having kids sleeping in the agency’s offices due to a lack of foster care placements. Secretary Casados said the agency plans to address on this issue through its Foster Care+ program and her hopes for the current legislative session.
SECRETARY TERESA CASADOS: A lot of the times, we really struggle with the appropriate placement for children in a foster care home. So, we're looking to enhance what we do with foster care, o build out better supports for foster parents, so that if they're taking a child that has a very specific need, that they are trained to really be able to deal with that and that they have better supports built around them on a regular basis. And so that has launched. We're basing it off of an Oklahoma model where they did that and they saw lots of success. Of course, it took them, you know, about six years to get to that point where they were really seeing the program have the effects that they were hoping for. And so we're hoping that that will happen faster, of course.
KUNM: While that training is going on for Foster Care+ what other developments are rolling out to support kids with higher needs and ensuring that they’re in appropriate placements and getting the resources they need?
CASADOS: We’ve opened a HOPE House (Healing, Opportunity, Pride and Empowerment) , which was taking several months to get that up and running. YDI has a home where they are taking females age 12 and above, and that really is the alternative to office stays. Our hope is, once we get Foster Care+ up and running, some of those youth that are in HOPE House will be able to transition into Foster Care+ and be in a home-like setting and getting the services that they need so that they can thrive in that environment.
We also have brought on an education director who's really working with our youth in care to ensure that regardless of where they are, whether that be HOPE House or a foster parent, or in an office, that they are still not skipping a beat on their educational journey.
KUNM: During your time as interim cabinet secretary you prioritized the reorganization of CYFD into three pillars, which are Family Services, Juvenile Justice, and Protective Services. How will this reorganization streamline the work that you all and make larger impacts on the families you serve?
CASADOS: So in our Protective Services Unit, you know, we have, of course, what starts out with a investigator, right? So they go in and they investigate whether or not there has been abuse and neglect, and that really determines the trajectory of where that case goes. So if, in fact, there hasn't been abuse or neglect, but the family just needs some support to really be able to thrive, then that would send it to our Family Services Unit, where they can do a whole array of prevention and intervention services to work with that family to really provide them what they need, so they don't end up in our Protective Services Division. I mean, I think that's really the goal for all of us, is to do prevention and intervention so families in New Mexico can thrive.
If the decision is that there has been some sort of abuse or neglect, then they come into our system and they work with our permanency team to really find that placement, to get them into an appropriate home, and to work with them long-term to sustain that and make sure that they're getting the services that they need.
At the same time, our placement team is working with those foster families to ensure that they're supported. And then we also have people who are working with the bio family, right? Is it reunification? Do they need supports? And what does that look like? And right now, all of that kind of happens separately. You have a team that's working with a child and a team that's working with the bio parents, and you know, we want to pull that together and really work as one unit for the betterment of that child and that family.
KUNM: The legislative session just kicked off this week. What would you like to see lawmakers consider when it comes to CYFD?
CASADOS: I think there's going to be a lot of initiatives introduced with respect to CYFD. Some will be great. Some we’re maybe not in favor of, but we're really open to opportunity and conversation to understand what is needed to have an effective child welfare system in the state. And you know, my biggest fear and concern is really trying to take the frustration that we're all feeling with where our child welfare system is right now and really just trying to make improvement by legislation, right? I don't really think that's going to make the changes that we want to see, so I want us to really be thoughtful, but we're open to conversations with anybody and everybody about the concerns that they have, and really, if there's legislation that can help address those concerns, by all means, we would be supportive of that. But if we're just looking to really try to legislate our way out of crisis, I want us to be very intentional about what we're getting across the finish line.
This coverage is made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and KUNM listeners.
