Featured Stories
Youth homeless shelters shoulder burden for CYFD’s highest-needs kids
Following an executive order ending office stays for foster youth and an Attorney General investigation finding that the state is “warehousing” kids in group settings, the state is continuing to rely on shelters to house children.
Gubernatorial candidates weigh in on CYFD reforms
Multiple candidates called for CYFD to be restructured, proposing to split the agency or relinquish control of it.
AG report: CYFD fails to investigate abuse in congregate care facilities
A report issued Wednesday by the New Mexico Department of Justice outlines a litany of failures by the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department to protect children in foster care.
New Mexico AG sues CYFD over ‘shroud of secrecy,’ refusal to disclose records
The state Department of Justice alleges CYFD wields state law in retaliating against critical foster parents and skirting accountability.
‘Systematic moral failing’: Justice Department issues scathing report on CYFD
New Mexico’s child welfare agency is more interested in hiding its failures than protecting children, the state Justice Department wrote.
Lawmakers spent big to give New Mexico health care system shot in the arm
Legislators directed hundreds of millions to a new medical school facility, expansion of rural residencies and faculty raises.
Lawsuit: CYFD investigator crossed state — and ethical — lines to take custody of infant girl
The lawsuit alleges the investigator disregarded the parents’ demands to return their child before a court intervened.
Española students, others working on glove to treat Parkinson’s disease
Project leaders hope others can replicate the high-tech wearable glove, which was developed using open-source software.
CYFD sets new annual targets for foster family recruitment
CYFD must recruit nearly 200 nonrelative foster homes and place hundreds of higher needs children in specialized care.
‘Too soon to tell’ how delays in federal family planning grants might affect New Mexico
The latest round of federal family planning funding — which was slated to go into effect Wednesday — is stuck in bureaucratic limbo.
CYFD was supposed to create a child welfare tracking dashboard. Where is it?
CYFD is developing the dashboard itself and aims to publish the tool in the coming months, a spokesperson said.
Health
New Mexico providers: Moving federal drug discount program to rebate model would be costly
Under a proposed pilot program, clinics and hospitals would pay full wholesale price, then request an after-purchase rebate.
New Mexico says new effort to aid drug-exposed newborns is working
Very few children have returned to their biological homes under the New Mexico’s new strategy, and most are in foster care.
CDC report highlights New Mexico as measles response model
Outreach efforts during the outbreak coincided with an uptick in vaccine doses administered from January to September 2025.
child & Family Welfare
Read the New Mexico Department of Justice report on CYFD
Following a yearlong investigation, the New Mexico Department of Justice issued a 224-page report documenting the cases of at least 28 children involved with the state Children, Youth and Families Department, such as by being placed in foster homes and facilities or because their families were investigated amid allegations of brutal abuse or neglect. The…
CYFD is trying to find homes for its hard-to-place youth. One major type of foster home is saying no.
After putting a stop to office stays, the state hopes that treatment foster care can help fill the gap for its teens in need of homes.
‘Support for mom is the number one thing’: New Mexico WIC offers breastfeeding help
“Whether you’re breastfeeding or formula feeding, feeding a baby is hard,” said peer counseling program manager Liz Jaramillo-Lopez.
Government
Texas House Speaker lists annexing slice of New Mexico among 2027 priorities
The Republican speaker’s interim charges also covered water resources, foreign threats and government accountability.
As obesity rises in New Mexico, advocates push for Medicaid to cover weight loss drugs
The change, advocates argue, would curb rising obesity rates, reduce health care disparities and save on health care costs.
Lujan Grisham signs ‘life-changing’ universal child care bill into law
New Mexico’s governor also signed SB 96 on Tuesday, a measure streamlining zoning laws related to opening child care centers.
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