Judge hears criticism of compliance by HSD

A federal judge listened carefully Thursday as a court-appointed special master described a variety of management, communication and other problems in the state agency that helps needy New Mexicans buy groceries and obtain health care.

And then U.S. District Judge Kenneth Gonzales himself had a chance to question some of the top officials overseeing the agency as they took the stand to defend their work.

Gonzales is considering the special master’s recommendation for a leadership shake-up in the Income Support Division of the state Human Services Department. The hearing is part of a 30-year classaction lawsuit focused on whether the agency is failing to process applications and issue benefits in time.

“This place needs a change in management,” special master Lawrence Parker told the judge. “They’re simply not getting the job done.”

Parker said the leaders of the division are trying hard and have made some progress toward compliance with a consent decree agreed to in 1998. But a change in personnel would help, he said.

Parker described a variety of problems, including what he called a “scandal” two years ago in which there were allegations of an effort to deny services to clients or make it more difficult for them to get the help they qualified for.

When problems arise, Parker said, the consequences for employees sometimes amount to a “slap on the wrist,” not the “zero tolerance” that he believes is warranted.

Sometimes, he said, ineffective managers are simply shuffled from one office to another, which doesn’t resolve the problem.

Judge Gonzales didn’t tip his hand about whether he agreed with the recommendation to remove some officials. But he questioned at least one of them, the director of income support, repeatedly about what plan she had to ensure the agency complies with the consent decree.

It wasn’t clear whether he was satisfied with the answers.

Gonzales also ordered about a dozen managers from the agency to be present in the courtroom so they could hear for themselves what’s at stake in the litigation, the concerns raised by the plaintiffs and the defense offered by the department’s Cabinet secretary, Brent Earnest.

The judge urged everyone to keep in mind that the goal is to get services to people who need them.

“What we’re really talking about here is people,” Gonzales said. “We can get lost in statistics.”

Attorneys for the Human Services Department argued that the special master has overlooked the scope of the progress they’ve made, and they objected to some of his findings.

Paul Kennedy and Jessica Hernandez, the state’s attorneys, suggested the agency is already in compliance with federal law and that the 1998 consent decree is outdated. It isn’t appropriate for the court to get into micromanaging the staffing decisions of a state agency, they said.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in 1988, accuses New Mexico of violating people’s rights by imposing inconsistent and excessive requirements on applicants seeking benefits, delaying eligibility decisions and failing to provide emergency food assistance in time.

Attorneys for the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty are working for the plaintiffs.

Gonzales, at one point, offered this assessment: “It’s undeniable there’s been progress.”