91°µÍø

The Children, Youth, and Families Department’s Fostering Connections program was created several years ago to extend foster care services to youth aging out of the system. Now the legislature is looking to expand services and eligibility.

New Mexico has ranked consistently near the bottom when it comes to child well-being. The Children, Youth and Families Department, which is supposed to protect the most vulnerable children, has also battled scandals, secrecy, and staffing instability for decades. In the first of a series, 91°µÍø looks deeper into the legacy of these longstanding challenges and how they affect families in the foster care system.

The Children, Youth, and Families Department has faced scrutiny in the past for placing foster youth in their office to stay for periods of time. Interim Secretary Teresa Casados committed to ending these stays by working on restructuring the department. But she does not say there is a definite date for the stays to end.

A new agreement has been reached, designed to improve the performance of the Children, Youth and Families Department and the Human Services Department, especially with respect to foster care.

The Children, Youth and Families Department has received consistent backlash concerning issues of transparency. The Department hosted a meeting Tuesday to announce the launch of a new dashboard that officials say promotes more transparency. The site has several data points to show progress with things like staffing and efforts to recruit foster parents.

Let’s Talk New Mexico 5/20 8am: Life can be tough for kids in New Mexico’s foster care system. In fact, a lawsuit brought against the state in 2018…

May is Foster Child Awareness Month, and The Children's Hour spoke with kids who’ve been in foster care about what it’s like. We learned even more about…