New Mexico’s child welfare system has struggled over the decades to provide appropriate resources to foster children, ultimately leading to lawsuits. Now two nonprofits are working together to help close the gaps and provide essential services to foster families and state agencies.
An arbitrator earlier this year found the Children, Youth, and Families Department to be out of compliance with the 2020 Kevin S. settlement agreement brought on by foster youth suing over inadequate support and access to resources.
In particular, the ruling found CYFD’s efforts on recruitment and retention of foster parents was insufficient.
A new nonprofit partnership is looking to address some of these issues. The Foster Alliance, an Arizona-based, nonprofit announced it’s combining resources and programming with the New Mexico Friends of Foster Children. The organization will be rebranded as The Foster Alliance.
New Mexico Friends of Foster Children was founded in 2003 to deliver services to youth who experience state or tribal foster care. Both organizations will combine their board of directors and while some previous programming will change the Alliance will seek to enhance care. where both seek to enhance care even if some previous programming changes.
The Foster Alliance is known for advocating for foster kids having safe sleeping arrangements. Lipman said that they have already delivered 15 beds to the Albuquerque Receiving Center, where children first go when entering state custody, and hopes to deliver another 20 beds or even cribs soon.
Alliance Vice President of Operations and Strategic Alignment Matt Lipan said the organization wants to help those interested in becoming a foster parent to open their home by providing things like a license and safety items.
“So of course, families or individuals are required to go through a licensing process to be a resource home, and so oftentimes that requires various safety things, whether it's fire extinguishers, first aid kits, cabinet locks, gun locks, and we provide all of those things,” said Lipan.
Lipan said that this partnership also extends to working with the state’s tribal communities and caseworkers at CYFD so kids themselves can access a warehouse of supplies.
“They can come in and pick out the clothes that they actually want to wear,” Lipan said.
Lipan said that these initiatives are just the beginning and that this summer a mobile van will be traveling the state to provide these essential resources.
This coverage is made possible by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and KUNM listeners.
