Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the Legislature. LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports if they
are used for other purposes.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Martinez, A.
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 3/4/2025
SHORT TITLE CYFD Substitute Care Review
BILL
NUMBER House Bill 500
ANALYST Hernandez
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
SCAC $341.5 $516.5 $535.8 $1,393.9 Recurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Conflicts with House Bill 205
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
Regulation and Licensing Department (RLD)
Office of Family Representation and Advocacy (OFRA)
Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)
Attorney General (NMAG)
Agency Analysis was Solicited but Not Received From
Children, Youth, and Families Department (CYFD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Bill 500
House Bill 500 (HB500) would amend the Citizen Substitute Care Review Act and the
Children’s Code to change the make-up and mission of the Substitute Care Advisory Council,
including clarifying that the council oversees Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)
effectiveness in its child protection responsibilities. Provisions of the bill:
Section 1 amends the confidentiality of records section of the Children’s Code.
Section 2 amends the Citizen Substitute Care Review Act of the Children’s Code by
shifting the monitoring from children in the of custody CYFD to monitor CYFD itself.
Section 3 adds definitions to the Citizen Substitute Care Review Act to include “board,”
“case,” “council,” “identified child,” and “substitute care.”
Section 4 amends the Citizen Substitute Care Review Act by increasing the number of
Substitute Care Advisory Council (SCAC) members from nine to 10; expressly states the
SCAC “shall exercise its functions independently and not under the control of the House Bill 500 – Page 2
department” or RLD; and requires SCAC to provide an annual report to the governor, the
Legislature, CYFD, and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).
Section 5 adds a new section to the Citizen Substitute Care Review Act providing that
SCAC shall hire a director and staff to review cases and process grievances and that
budgeting requests shall be submitted through the Regulation and Licensing Department
(RLD).
Section 6 adds a new section that provides that the New Mexico Attorney General’s
Office shall advise and consult with SCAC and render legal services on the request of
SCAC.
Section 7 adds a new section that provides that SCAC staff shall review each grievance
submitted to SCAC staff.
Section 8 adds a provision for volunteer members.
Section 9 adds a new section that requires SCAC to establish boards (volunteers) to
review cases designated in accordance with SCAC rules. SCAC staff are required to meet
quarterly with CYFD regarding the findings.
Section 10 adds a section giving SCAC staff access to CYFD records subject to state and
federal law.
Section 11 adds a provision for confidentiality of information
This bill does not contain an effective date and, as a result, would go into effect 90 days after the
Legislature adjourns if enacted, or June 20, 2025.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
While SCAC has been administratively attached to RLD for the last three years, past General
Appropriation Act has included an appropriation for SCAC within AOC, contingent on
enactment of legislation to move SCAC to the courts. Because no legislation has passed, these
appropriations have been vetoed. RLD has funded the salaries of three existing SCAC employees
with fee revenue collected by the department.
RLD reports the agency received $31 thousand for the operations of SCAC in FY25, while
current total operating costs, including 4 FTE, total roughly $350 thousand, and the agency has
been funding the SCAC function with other agency revenue in recent years. RLD notes that if it
were to fill the two remaining vacant positions, costs would increase by $175 thousand.
The House version of the General Appropriation Act includes a $550 thousand special
appropriation to AOC, with $450 thousand from the general fund and $100 thousand in federal
Title IV-E revenue transferred from CYFD. The appropriation would allow for the staffing of up
to five full-time employees. The appropriation should allow SCAC to significantly increase the
number of cases reviewed annually; however, it may not provide sufficient resources to fully
meet the number of case reviews outlined in the bill if the number of cases trends at the high end
of the estimates presented above. Contingent on the enactment of this bill, the Legislature would
need to consider recurring funding in future years.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
In New Mexico, the federally mandated CAPTA citizen review panel function was codified in
the 2016 Citizen Substitute Care Review Act, and its duties are performed by SCAC. SCAC is House Bill 500 – Page 3
administratively attached to RLD in accordance with Section 9-1-7 NMSA 1978 and conducts its
evaluations through oversight of the regional substitute care review boards’ monitoring of
children placed in CYFD’s custody and identification of systemic policy issues related to
substitute care. LFC reports have highlighted gaps in the existing function. SCAC is mandated
through state statute to produce an annual report; however, due to issues maintaining sufficient
council membership, reports have not always been filed. In addition, the number of cases
reviewed annually by SCAC does not provide a representative sample. For example, SCAC
reviewed 242 cases reviewed from July 2020 through December 2022, and SCAC reviewed 54
cases that involved 101 children in FY24, less than 5 percent of children in foster care in a single
month in New Mexico in 2024. Previous iterations of SCAC reviewed all cases annually.
SCAC is required by existing statute to establish priority case criteria for case review each year.
Within the most recent report, its priority case review criteria focused on (1) placements in
institutional or congregate care settings, (2) number of children in placement, (3) youth ages 13-
18, (4) sibling groups, (5) three or more 48-hour holds, (6) requested by an interested party, (7)
follow-up on previous case reviews. These criteria led to most of the reviewed cases focusing on
teenagers in care; while these may be high-risk cases, the reviewed cases and annual report do
not reflect the overall distribution of children in care. For example, CYFD reported to the Senate
Memorial 5 taskforce during the 2024 interim that around 50 percent of children in care are 5
years old or younger. Outcomes for children in foster care, such as time to permanency, could
improve if more cases are reviewed on an annual basis.
Prior to 2016, SCAC was situated within the Department of Finance and Administration and
every child abuse and neglect case was reviewed by SCAC through a contractual function.
Following its move to the Regulation and Licensing Department, SCAC has not always
published annual reports or had sufficient membership, despite requirements within statute.
SCAC’s most recent report, published in October 2024, reviewed 54 cases impacting 101
children. In the same year, roughly 2,000 children were in care.
AOC notes:
House Bill 500 is a close duplicate of 2021’s Senate Bill 242 that unanimously passed
both chambers of the Legislature but was vetoed on April 9, 2021, wherein Governor
Michelle Lujan Grisham stated in her message: “SB 242 prematurely expands the
authority of the Council without any appropriation to implement its new power to accept,
investigate and negotiate solutions with CYFD. During the legislative process, New
Mexico’s Native American communities’ leadership were not consulted regarding SB
242, even though the Council must adhere to the Indian Child Welfare Act. Additional
collaboration is therefore needed between the Council, state agencies, and our Native
American communities before any of the amendments in SB 242 can be enacted.:
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
HB500 conflicts with HB205, which moves SCAC under the Attorney General’s Office.
AEH/hj/hg