Attorney General Raul Torrez is planning to sue the Children Youth and Families Department following a year-long investigation by the New Mexico Department of Justice that uncovered severe child safety issues.The lawsuit is claiming that CYFD was abusing the state’s confidentiality laws in order to cover up their failures.According to a report obtained by Target 7, the DOJ found that CYFD “has inverted its legislative mandate by prioritizing family reunification at virtually any cost” over a child’s health and safety. This has led to severe consequences, including the deaths of at least seven children since the investigation began.Target 7 reached similar conclusions during its special investigation, “Broken Promises,” which revealed that babies born drug-addicted were being sent back home to their parents only to die later. In 2019, under the federal Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act, the state passed a law that CYFD wouldn’t have to be notified when an addicted baby was sent home. Instead, they would be given what’s called a CARA safety plan.The AG’s investigation found that 42 percent of the families surveyed 11 months after receiving a plan were unaware of what it actually was. Earlier this year, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham admitted she was wrong when she signed that bill.”2020 hindsight. I regret that I signed the bill in 19 for CARA,” Grisham said in a news conference.The governor signaled problems with the law by signing an executive order last summer directing the state to begin removing drug-addicted infants from their parents and putting them into CYFD’s custody.”We were releasing, after they were well enough to go home, infants in the care of highly drug-addicted parents who were not required to take any service or get treatment for their addiction. Now, I don’t know if there’s any better recipe for a disaster in America than that one,” Grisham said.According to the reports obtained by Target 7, the DOJ concluded CYFD has “wholly abandoned child safety as its guiding principle,” with its shortcomings representing a “systematic moral failing.” The DOJ investigation included interviews with families, case workers, police officers, police reports, and body camera footage.
Attorney General Raul Torrez is planning to sue the Children Youth and Families Department following a year-long investigation by the New Mexico Department of Justice that uncovered severe child safety issues.
The lawsuit is claiming that CYFD was abusing the state’s confidentiality laws in order to cover up their failures.
According to a report obtained by Target 7, the DOJ found that CYFD “has inverted its legislative mandate by prioritizing family reunification at virtually any cost” over a child’s health and safety. This has led to severe consequences, including the deaths of at least seven children since the investigation began.
Target 7 reached similar conclusions during its special investigation, “Broken Promises,” which revealed that babies born drug-addicted were being sent back home to their parents only to die later. In 2019, under the federal Comprehensive Addiction Recovery Act, the state passed a law that CYFD wouldn’t have to be notified when an addicted baby was sent home. Instead, they would be given what’s called a CARA safety plan.
The AG’s investigation found that 42 percent of the families surveyed 11 months after receiving a plan were unaware of what it actually was. Earlier this year, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham admitted she was wrong when she signed that bill.
“2020 hindsight. I regret that I signed the bill in 19 for CARA,” Grisham said in a news conference.
The governor signaled problems with the law by signing an executive order last summer directing the state to begin removing drug-addicted infants from their parents and putting them into CYFD’s custody.
“We were releasing, after they were well enough to go home, infants in the care of highly drug-addicted parents who were not required to take any service or get treatment for their addiction. Now, I don’t know if there’s any better recipe for a disaster in America than that one,” Grisham said.
According to the reports obtained by Target 7, the DOJ concluded CYFD has “wholly abandoned child safety as its guiding principle,” with its shortcomings representing a “systematic moral failing.” The DOJ investigation included interviews with families, case workers, police officers, police reports, and body camera footage.
