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CYFD chief grilled on unspent funds
Gov. Martinez appointed CYFD secretary-designate Jacobson answers to Senate Finance Committee on concerns about her department.
Gov. Susana Martinez's choice to head the department that oversees child welfare outlined her plans Tuesday to better protect endangered children during her first legislative hearing before the Senate Finance Committee.
However, when presented with two proposed budget plans, Monique Jacobson, the governor's secretary-designate for the Children, Youth and Families Department, endorsed the Martinez administration's proposal, which would fund fewer new positions to investigate child abuse claims than its alternative.
Instead of endorsing the Legislative Finance Committee staff's recommendation to bring on 66 new employees to handle child abuse investigations, Jacobson supported a plan from the Department of Finance and Administration – where her husband is employed. It calls for 45 new positions. Jacobson said her stance is based on the department's needs and priorities, and that she won't ask for more money than the department needs.
"We feel confident that the number that is in (the governor's recommendation) is the right number," Jacobson said. She said the governor's recommendation is sufficient to bring worker caseloads in line with the national average. Jacobson faced hard questions about her department's record of leaving money unspent in a state racked with need.
Sen. Howie Morales, D-Silver City, pointed out that last year the department failed to spend $21 million in federal money for childcare programs, while 900 families languished on a waiting list for those services.
"Why can't you use those (funds)?" said Sen. Nancy Rodriguez, D-Santa Fe. "There's plenty of need."
Jacobson pledged to take a fresh look at whether CYFD is doing enough with the money at its disposal.
"We cannot leave money on the table when we're dealing with something as important as our children," Jacobson said.
Jacobson has been at the helm of CYFD for just three weeks. She had been Martinez's Cabinet secretary for tourism before the governor tapped her as the new CYFD chief after Yolanda Deines resigned from the post. Although Jacobson's tourism efforts are widely regarded as successful, some lawmakers have been critical of her lack of professional experience in child protection.
"It's a slap in the face to any child who's ever been abused," Sen. Michael Padilla, D-Albuquerque, who grew up in the state's foster care system, said recently.
Democrats and Republicans alike lauded Jacobson's tourism work and expressed confidence in her during Tuesday's hearing.
Unlike tourism, CYFD has been hampered by high-profile failures. One year ago, when Deines sat in the chair that Jacobson occupied Tuesday, talk focused heavily on the beating death of Omaree Varela, which was making headlines on a daily basis at the time. The 9-year-old boy from Albuquerque, whose family had passed through the CYFD system, died from blunt-force trauma. His mother and stepfather are charged with his murder.
The boy's death, coupled with national studies that consistently rank New Mexico at or near the bottom in most child well-being measures, has made CYFD the focus of much unwanted attention.
To change that, Jacobson told lawmakers she has prioritized improving staffing, fostering better communication with police about endangered children and ensuring strong financial oversight of her department.
Patrick Malone
28 January 2015
http://www.demingheadlight.com/deming-news/ci_27416498/cyfd-chief-grilled-unspent-funds
