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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Torres-Velásquez/Thomson
LAST UPDATED
ORIGINAL DATE 02/26/2024
SHORT TITLE Autobiographical Storytelling for Children
BILL
NUMBER House Bill 534
ANALYST Chilton
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT*
(dollars in thousands)
Agency/Program
FY25 FY26 FY27
3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring or
Nonrecurring
Fund
Affected
CYFD
No fiscal impact
$230.3 $226.8 $457.1 Recurring General Fund
Parentheses ( ) indicate expenditure decreases.
*Amounts reflect most recent analysis of this legislation.
Sources of Information
LFC Files
Agency Analysis Received From
Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) Health Care Authority (HCA) Office of Family Representation and Advocacy (OFRA)
Agency Declined to Respond
Department of Health (DOH)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of House Bill 534
House Bill 534 (HB534) would add a subsection to the Children, Youth and Families
Department Act (Section 9-2A, NMSA 1978) entitled “Autobiographical Storytelling as a
Trauma-Informed Strategy.”
The Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) would be asked to do the following:
Establish standards for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to use in developing training
for foster parents and case workers.
Contract with speech-language pathologists to train foster parents and case workers to
give language support and emotional development services to help children in foster care
develop coherent storytelling and language skills using family experiences.
Create, implement, and evaluate the effectiveness of a storytelling framework to help
children in foster care develop autobiographical memory.
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. House Bill 534 – Page 2
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
There is no appropriation in House Bill 534.
CYFD reports that the agency would need “to contract with SLPs to deliver trainings and
workshops. It also requires the evaluation of the effectiveness of Autobiographical Storytelling
on children’s development of autobiographical memory. There is also a potential need for one
FTE to oversee the contracts administratively and programmatically as well as ensure the
establishment of training and workshop standards and the outcomes evaluation.” CYFD’s
estimate of costs is included in the table above.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
Almost all children in foster care have been exposed to traumatic circumstances, which may
include child abuse or neglect, being taken from a family home, and being placed in one or more
less-than-supportive foster homes.
The full title of the bill includes the words “creating a trauma-informed practice.” According to
the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, trauma-informed child and family systems are
those “in which all parties involved recognize and respond to the impact of traumatic stress on
those who have contact with the system including children, caregivers, and service providers.
Programs and agencies within such a system infuse and sustain trauma awareness, knowledge,
and skills into their organizational cultures, practices, and policies. They act in collaboration with
all those who are involved with the child, using the best available science, to maximize physical
and psychological safety, facilitate the recovery of the child and family, and support their ability
to thrive.”
In a policy statement on trauma-informed care (TIC), the American Academy of Pediatrics
supports the use of trauma-informed care to ameliorate stress and trauma’s effects on children.
The Academy advises that trauma symptoms can vary, from changes in eating and sleeping to
severe physical and mental health effects requiring extensive treatment. Individual differences in
trauma symptoms relate to the interplay of exposures and buffering from SSNRs as well as
genetic variations impacted by the early environment (biological differential sensitivity to
context). Integrating this relational model of care (TIC) to prevent and mitigate the impact of
trauma so that all members of the care team feel supported and valued is integral to TIC.
Addressing safety and supporting relationships that promote affiliative responses, decrease stress
responses, and promote building resilience are principles of TIC for children, caregivers, and
health care personnel.
The Office of Family Representation and Advocacy (OFRA) points out that “While
autobiographical storytelling can be a healing modality when implemented within a clinical
framework, it can also lead to unintentional re-traumatization of children and youth in foster
care. There is a risk of new disclosures of child abuse and neglect, and the bill does not address
how this should be handled or addressed. Presumably, CYFD’s established procedures for
reports of abuse or neglect would apply. If storytelling activities occur in a place that feels unsafe
or with people with whom the child or youth does not feel emotionally or physically safe, it
could be harmful to them. Further, the bill does not clarify whether this service is voluntary for
children and youth, or families and case workers.” House Bill 534 – Page 3
CYFD states: “Narrative therapy is a well-established therapeutic approach that has been utilized
across generations, particularly within traditional and minority populations. Autobiographical
storytelling is rooted in the same core principles as narrative therapy. These modalities are
effective across diverse communities and cultures as they recognize the individual as the expert
on their own life. By acknowledging that people’s lives are shaped by the stories they tell
themselves, these approaches foster an environment conducive to healing.”
In a study published in Children and Youth Services Review, authors from the Netherlands find
support for the use of autobiographical storytelling among foster children in that country.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
It is not clear why the bill specifies speech-language pathologists (SLPs) as those to conduct
autobiographical storytelling. Some SLPs will have been schooled in the facilitation of such
storytelling, but some medical providers, social workers, and psychologists and psychiatrists may
also have such training, especially training that encompasses trauma-informed care.
Additionally, as OFRA suggests, “No performance measures are included in the bill. It is unclear
how ‘success’ will be measured or what data will be tracked. This is not a pilot program with the
requirement of assessing efficacy and impact. If the program does not produce the intended
results, CYFD will still be required to maintain this program under the law.”
LAC/hj/SR