Global Courant 2023-04-14 18:45:59
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is making a leadership change at New Mexico’s controversial foster care and child welfare agency.
The governor announced on Thursday the departure of Barbara Vigil as Secretary of the Department of Children, Youth and Family, effective May 1, as the administration searches for a replacement. For now, the agency will be headed by Teresa Casados, a political appointee and top executive in the governor’s office.
New Mexico’s recurrence rate of reported child abuse cases is one of the worst in the country, amid a chronic labor shortage in the child welfare system and high turnover of workers in protective services.
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The state has responded to this in recent years by investing more in services to prevent abuse.
In February, the governor outlined new efforts to make the agency and its protective services department more responsive to children’s needs and families’ complaints. She commissioned a policy advisory board that Vigil will now join for its first meeting in May.
Republican Senator Crystal Diamond of Elephant Butte expressed frustration with the leadership change and recent rejection of child welfare legislation.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks in Santa Fe on April 5, 2023. Grisham is making changes in the leadership of the state’s controversial child welfare agency as New Mexico struggles to address the high rate of repeated child abuse. (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)
“Lawmakers were bullied by the governor into rejecting viable, bipartisan solutions with the empty promise that Secretary Vigil would be a steady hand for change,” Diamond said in a statement. “This is a really sad day for New Mexico.”
Vigil, a former state Supreme Court justice, took over as head of the agency in October 2021 amid New Mexico’s long-standing struggle to improve child welfare.
On Thursday, Lujan Grisham called Vigil a stabilizing force for the bureau, where she improved relations with staff and voters, including Native American communities.
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Vigil oversaw the state’s first implementation of the Indian Family Protection Act, designed to prevent the arbitrary segregation of Native American children from cultural ties to tribal communities.
But frustrations with the agency and concerns about child welfare continue to run high.
This year, Republican legislators in the legislative minority led to calls for more accountability through rejected proposals to hire a “chief attorney for children” to investigate grievances and new standards for assessing children’s needs.
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The governor signed a bill setting tighter deadlines for courts to determine whether juveniles remain in custody, but rejected other accountability initiatives, including a failed proposal to create a civil rights division at the attorney general’s office to stand up for children’s rights.
In a statement, Vigil was hopeful about the prospects for improvements.
“By working with child welfare professionals, we have laid a foundation for lasting change and positive outcomes for our children and families,” she said.
