By Daniel J. Chacón, The Santa Fe New Mexican

Teresa Casados choked with emotion Wednesday as she explained her decision to assume the reins of one of the most troubled and scrutinized agencies in state government: the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department.

“In May when I took this role, it was a temporary situation to really help operationalize and look at the structure of CYFD and what was needed,” Casados, then serving as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s chief operating officer, said at the start of what turned out to be a grueling three-hour confirmation hearing before the Senate Rules Committee.

“As time went on, I became very passionate about the work that needed to be done at CYFD, and with each passing month, I think it became more clear to the governor that my heart was at CYFD, and it was an incredibly difficult decision to make,” she added, fighting back tears as her elderly mother and other family members listened in the audience.

“But I’m 100% committed,” she said.

Though the vote wasn’t unanimous, the Senate in turn committed to Casados and confirmed her appointment as Cabinet secretary of the agency after a 1½-hour hearing on the floor.

The vote came after the committee endorsed her confirmation in the morning on a 8-2 vote following testimony in support from several Cabinet secretaries and others, including Casados’ young granddaughter.

All of the votes in opposition came from Republicans, but some voiced a willingness to allow her to work on the myriad issues facing the department.

“She didn’t break it,” said Bill Sharer, R-Farmington, who voted in support of Casados’ confirmation. “She probably won’t be able to fix it, but she’s the one we have, and now we need to help her.”

Casados’ confirmation, by a 32-8 vote on the floor, comes just days after a blistering report calling on New Mexico to take “immediate action” amid crushing caseloads at CYFD and a backlog of more than 2,000 investigations of abuse and neglect.

“This is a clear and urgent safety risk for children,” two nationally recognized experts on child welfare reform wrote in bold in their report.

The two experts, Judith Meltzer, president of the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, D.C., and Kevin Ryan, New Jersey’s first Child Advocate who now works with Public Catalyst in Iselin, N.J, are designated “co-neutrals” charged with overseeing the implementation of a groundbreaking settlement agreement meant to improve the state’s child welfare system following a class-action lawsuit.

Meltzer and Ryan are scheduled to appear Friday before the Senate Judiciary Committee via Zoom.

“That’s our hope,” said Sen. Joe Cervantes, D-Las Cruces. “We’ve rescheduled them and rescheduled them. The difficulty is they’re on the East Coast, so their two-hour difference is becoming a problem.”

Meltzer and Ryan reported some pending investigations date to the first half of 2023, and some involve alleged victims who have never been seen by the child welfare agency.

Casados told lawmakers the agency is “heading out to those houses immediately — that’s been a priority for us this week.” 

Casados stepped in to lead the agency after the resignation of Barbara Vigil, making her the third Cabinet secretary during the Lujan Grisham administration, though the director of the state Children’s Cabinet served as interim secretary for a brief stint.

Casados received both praise and criticism during both confirmation hearings.

“I recognize, secretary, that you have inherited a house on fire — started a long time before you arrived,” Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, said during the floor session.

“But in the nine months [you’ve been on the job], I must say, you haven’t even started to look for the garden hose,” Brantley added.

In one of the most talked about moments of the committee hearing, Casados took “full responsibility” for placing teens in CYFD custody in a locked facility over Thanksgiving. The estimated nine youth were poised to sleep overnight in CYFD offices, a practice the agency is working on quashing.

“I never intended for it to be a lockup situation,” she said. “Really, my intent was to have them under one roof to be able to provide a holiday meal and maybe movie night. In my mind, it all sounded wonderful. It absolutely did not turn out that way. We got calls from youth that night that felt like they were being punished, and they were in lockup.”

Republicans who voted in opposition to Casados’ confirmation said it wasn’t personal: they said the administration has pushed back against proposed reforms and noted they aren’t considering any bills this legislative session, which is technically focused on the state budget and requires legislation on other matters to receive a message from the governor.

“I’m not going to blame you; I think this department as a whole is, I don’t know if it’s manageable at this point,” said Sen. Mark Moores, R-Albuquerque. “In the macro level what really concerns me is the governor isn’t paying attention to it. It seems that CYFD is burning and she’s playing the fiddle up there on the fourth floor.”

Casados defended the governor, saying the challenges at CYFD aren’t “going unnoticed” and the governor isn’t “ignoring the situation.”

After the Senate confirmed Casados, Lujan Grisham said in a statement CYFD needs an effective leader. 

“Secretary Casados is the right person for this job, and I thank the Legislature for recognizing that,” the governor said. “We are already seeing meaningful changes at the Department, and that momentum will continue under Secretary Casados — New Mexico children and families deserve no less.”

Legislators who supported her confirmation expressed confidence in Casados.

“What CYFD needs is not new laws, not new regulations, not new policies, not new studies or a task force,” Cervantes said during the floor session.

“What it needs is a leader who can change things, a true leader — and I’ve seen that,” he added. “I’ve seen leaders come in, true leaders and overnight can change an organization, institution, outcome, a government. I think you have that capacity, and so I hope a year from now, I can tell you I was right about that.”

Unlike other confirmation hearings this session, Casados’ has been highly contentious amid ongoing cases of abuse and neglect of children, some with deadly outcomes.

At one point during the confirmation hearing in the Rules Committee, Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, read the names of children who have died after coming into contact with CYFD — kids critics contend the agency failed to remove from dangerous situations.

Baca asked Casados twice whether the agency is in crisis.

“There is a crisis in the work we do, but operating in crisis mode will not get us the results that we need,” she told him.

When pressed to answer the question, Casados replied: “Yes, there is a crisis across the state.”

Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, presented Casados for confirmation and braced for a tough committee hearing before it got underway.

“Today is going to be one of the toughest days I’ve had in my 12 years in the Senate,” he said in an interview. “I grew up in this system, and I want to make sure that we have the right Cabinet secretary — and I feel confident Teresa is going to be able to do the job.”

At the start of the hearing, Padilla told his colleagues they probably wouldn’t find “another person in state government that has the vast knowledge and experience of how to get things done.”

As he spoke about Casados’ education and experience, Baca sat on the dais reading a newspaper with a front-page story Wednesday about the child welfare reform experts’ report. The New Mexican first reported the story Friday.

During the confirmation hearing, Casados referenced the “negative” press CYFD receives, a complaint she has lodged in the past.

“It is an agency in need of a lot of change. That is very clear to all of us,” she said. “But it is also an agency that has dedicated employees that come to work every single day despite that negativity.”

Before the floor vote, Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, thanked Casados “for taking on what I think is probably the most important and most difficult job that exists in state government.

“I also think it’s important that we send a signal to each and every CYFD worker that we appreciate them, that we understand what they’re going through and that we’re in this together,” he said.