Sherry Robinson/New Mexico News Service For much of its existence, the state Children, Youth and Families Department has needed reform. After each child died from abuse in hellish situations known to CYFD and law enforcement, we learned and relearned that pay and staffing were low, and turnover and burnout were high. Meanwhile, New Mexico plummeted in rankings of child well-being. …

Barbara J. Vigil/CYFD Much attention has been focused on the heart-wrenching incident in Hobbs in which an infant was abandoned in a dumpster over the weekend. While many of us expressed a collective sigh of relief to learn that the baby was saved from harm by observant and caring citizens, the situation has raised many questions about legal options for …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The head of the state’s foster care and child welfare system was replaced Tuesday as New Mexico grapples with the effects student isolation during the pandemic and wages a longstanding struggle to improve childhood wellbeing. Recently retired Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Vigil will take the reins of the Children, Youth and Families Department on …

The parents who allegedly used their four children as props to panhandle for money in Hobbs and were charged with child abuse, have gone missing with the children. Andrei Cristian Ducila, 25, and Luiza Badea, 22, were both charged with four counts of abuse of a child, all third-degree felonies; after police found the family of six outside a retail …