Flurry of child welfare measures moving through Roundhouse
Just past the halfway mark of New Mexico’s 60-day session at the Capitol, several measures aimed at improving the well-being of children in the state are making their way through the Legislature — from a proposed new Cabinet-level department for early childhood programs to foster care reforms and family tax credits.
One child and youth advocate says there might be too many.
Ezra Spitzer, executive director of the nonprofit New Mexico Child Advocacy Network, said lawmakers run a risk of pushing through expansive changes in a piecemeal fashion without enough community engagement. Instead, he said, it might be wise to hold off on some of the bills this year and return to the Capitol in a future session with a redesign of the Children’s Code crafted with input from stakeholders statewide.
“Everybody knows there’s a need,” Spitzer said.
NMCAN and its youth advocates — most of them former foster children — are backing a package of foster care changes that is steadily moving through the Legislature.
However, one key measure, Senate Bill 23, which would allow youth aging out of the foster system to voluntarily receive services until age 21, has not yet gained traction, stalling in a Senate committee.
It has the support of state Children, Youth and Families Secretary Brian Blalock, who long has been an advocate of homeless youth. This bill, he said, would help prevent youth homelessness.
“When you have a parent and you get it wrong, you move back into the basement,” he said. “That’s the worse thing that can happen to you. … If you don’t have that parent, you end up homeless.”
He also is in favor of efforts to expand child care assistance, though he did not endorse any specific legislation.
“I think child care is one of the most important, most proven poverty-fighting measures that we can possibly do,” he said.
House Bill 160 would expand eligibility for child care assistance, and HB 399 would waive copayments for families with 3- and 4-year-olds.
Blalock is a fan of HB 56, amending the child delinquency law to exclude prostitution. The measure also would require officials to refer children and teens who have been victims of sex trafficking to any state-funded services they might need. That measure passed the House on a unanimous vote and is now awaiting Senate committee hearings.
Other child welfare bills and where they stand:
HB 18: A new state child tax credit has cleared the House Health and Human Services Committee.
HB 23: An increase in the state tax credit for working families passed the House Labor, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.
HB 447: A bill requiring the Public Education Department and Children, Youth and Families Department to create a system to track students moving between public schools to ensure there are no enrollment gaps has passed the House Education Committee.
HB 488: An expansion in the child abuse reporting law would require everyone to report knowledge of abuse of a child by any perpetrator; currently, the law only requires reporting of abuse by a parent or guardian. It has not had its first hearing.
HB 173, SB 202: Identical bills creating a new Child and Family Databank for social services policy research have cleared the first hurdle in each chamber.
SB 22: A proposed Early Childhood Education and Care Department has not yet had its first Senate committee hearing.
SB 27: A proposed Child Abuse Homicide Review Team passed the Senate Public Affairs Committee.
SB 251: An expansion of the college tuition waiver for former foster youth would allow young people placed in permanent guardianships after their 14th birthday to access the benefit. It is headed to the Senate floor
SB 341: A bill ensuring students who transfer between schools or districts because of a disruption — such as homelessness or foster care — receive credit for work completed prior to the transfer. It has passed the Senate Education Committee.
SB 371: A $450,000 appropriation to fund a financial skills-building program for teens moving out of foster care has passed the Senate Public Affairs Committee.