NM
New Mexico Senate Bill SB363

New Mexico 2025 Regular Session

New Mexico Senate Bill SB363 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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2828 SENATE BILL 363
2929 57
3030 TH LEGISLATURE
3131 -
3232
3333 STATE
3434
3535 OF
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3737 NEW
3838
3939 MEXICO
4040
4141 -
4242 FIRST SESSION
4343 ,
4444
4545 2025
4646 INTRODUCED BY
4747 Michael Padilla
4848 AN ACT
4949 RELATING TO CHILDREN; ENACTING THE CHILD PROTECTION AUTHORITY
5050 ACT; CREATING THE CHILD PROTECTION AUTHORITY; PRESCRIBING
5151 DUTIES.
5252 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
5353 SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--Sections 1
5454 through 7 of this act may be cited as the "Child Protection
5555 Authority Act".
5656 SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
5757 Child Protection Authority Act:
5858 A. "authority" means the child protection
5959 authority; and
6060 B. "department" means the children, youth and
6161 families department.
6262 SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] CHILD PROTECTION AUTHORITY
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9090 CREATED--DUTIES.--
9191 A. The "child protection authority" is created and
9292 is administratively attached to the regulation and licensing
9393 department.
9494 B. The authority shall be governed by nine members,
9595 appointed as follows:
9696 (1) five members appointed by the governor,
9797 subject to confirmation by the senate, including at least one
9898 child welfare professional and one representative of a child
9999 advocacy organization; and
100100 (2) four members appointed by the legislature,
101101 one each by the speaker of the house of representatives, the
102102 minority floor leader of the house of representatives, the
103103 president pro tempore of the senate and the minority floor
104104 leader of the senate.
105105 C. Members shall serve four-year terms; provided
106106 that the initial terms shall be staggered, as determined by
107107 lot, with three members appointed for terms of two years, three
108108 members appointed for terms of three years and the remaining
109109 three members appointed for terms of four years. Thereafter,
110110 members shall be appointed to terms of four years.
111111 D. The authority shall:
112112 (1) receive and investigate complaints
113113 regarding the handling of child abuse, neglect and foster care
114114 cases by the department and other child welfare agencies;
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143143 (2) monitor and evaluate the department's
144144 policies and practices to ensure compliance with federal and
145145 state child welfare laws;
146146 (3) make recommendations to the governor, the
147147 legislature and the department to improve child welfare
148148 practices and address systemic issues;
149149 (4) issue public reports on the authority's
150150 findings, including annual reports on trends in child welfare
151151 complaints and recommendations for policy reforms;
152152 (5) access records and data, including the
153153 department's case files, court records and law enforcement
154154 reports, subject to confidentiality safeguards;
155155 (6) provide education and outreach to
156156 families, children and mandated reporters regarding child
157157 welfare rights and responsibilities; and
158158 (7) operate a toll-free hotline and electronic
159159 communication portal to receive complaints.
160160 SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] DIRECTOR AND STAFF.--
161161 A. The authority shall be led by a director who
162162 shall be appointed by the members of the authority and serve a
163163 six-year term, subject to removal for cause by a two-thirds'
164164 vote of the members of the authority or at the discretion of
165165 the governor.
166166 B. The director shall hire staff that include
167167 investigators, attorneys and policy analysts, as necessary.
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196196 C. Staff shall have expertise in child welfare,
197197 juvenile law or social services.
198198 SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] COMPLAINT PROCESS.--
199199 A. The authority shall establish a transparent
200200 complaint process for individuals to report concerns regarding
201201 child protective services.
202202 B. Complaints may be submitted anonymously and
203203 shall be investigated promptly.
204204 C. Nothing in the provisions of this section grants
205205 subpoena power to the authority for purposes of investigating a
206206 complaint.
207207 D. The authority shall maintain communication with
208208 the complainant until the complaint is resolved.
209209 E. Upon resolution of a complaint, the authority
210210 shall report its findings to the department and to the
211211 complainant to the extent allowable by law within ten days.
212212 SECTION 6. [NEW MATERIAL] REPORTING AND ACCOUNTABILITY.--
213213 A. The authority shall submit an annual report to
214214 the department, the governor and the legislature detailing
215215 findings, case trends and recommendations.
216216 B. The authority shall hold quarterly public
217217 meetings to discuss child welfare concerns and policy
218218 proposals.
219219 C. At the discretion of the governor or the
220220 legislative finance committee, the state auditor shall conduct
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249249 or cause to be conducted a performance and fiscal audit of the
250250 department.
251251 SECTION 7. [NEW MATERIAL] CONFIDENTIALITY AND LEGAL
252252 PROTECTIONS.--The authority shall maintain confidentiality of
253253 records and protect the identity of complainants, except when
254254 necessary to conduct an investigation or disclosure is required
255255 by law. Authority staff shall be granted whistleblower
256256 protections and immunity from civil liability for actions taken
257257 in good faith while performing their duties.
258258 SECTION 8. Section 32A-2-32 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993,
259259 Chapter 77, Section 61, as amended) is amended to read:
260260 "32A-2-32. CONFIDENTIALITY--RECORDS.--
261261 A. [All] Records pertaining to the child, including
262262 all related social records, behavioral health screenings,
263263 diagnostic evaluations, psychiatric reports, medical reports,
264264 social studies reports, records from local detention
265265 facilities, client-identifying records from facilities for the
266266 care and rehabilitation of delinquent children, pre-parole or
267267 supervised release reports and supervision histories obtained
268268 by the juvenile probation office, parole officers and the
269269 juvenile public safety advisory board or in possession of the
270270 department, are confidential and shall not be disclosed
271271 directly or indirectly to the public.
272272 B. The disclosure of all mental health and
273273 developmental disability records shall be made pursuant to the
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302302 Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act.
303303 C. The records described in Subsection A of this
304304 section, other than mental health and developmental disability
305305 records, shall be disclosed only to any of the following;
306306 provided that the agency, person or institution receiving
307307 information shall not re-release the information without proper
308308 consent or as otherwise provided by law:
309309 (1) court personnel;
310310 (2) the child's court appointed special
311311 advocates;
312312 (3) the child's attorney or guardian ad litem
313313 representing the child in any matter;
314314 (4) department personnel;
315315 (5) corrections department personnel;
316316 (6) law enforcement officials when the request
317317 is related to the investigation of a crime;
318318 (7) district attorneys or children's court
319319 attorneys;
320320 (8) a state government social services agency
321321 in any state;
322322 (9) those persons or entities of a child's
323323 Indian tribe specifically authorized to inspect such records
324324 pursuant to the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 or any
325325 regulations promulgated under that act;
326326 (10) tribal juvenile justice system and social
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355355 service representatives;
356356 (11) a foster parent, if the records are those
357357 of a child currently placed with that foster parent or of a
358358 child being considered for placement with that foster parent,
359359 when the disclosure of the information is necessary for the
360360 child's treatment or care and shall include only that
361361 information necessary to provide for treatment and care of the
362362 child;
363363 (12) school personnel involved with the child
364364 if the records concern the child's educational needs, but shall
365365 only include that information necessary to provide for the
366366 child's educational planning and needs;
367367 (13) a health care or mental health
368368 professional involved in the evaluation or treatment of the
369369 child, the child's parents, guardians or custodian or other
370370 family members;
371371 (14) representatives of the protection and
372372 advocacy system;
373373 (15) the child's parent, guardian or legal
374374 custodian when the disclosure of the information is necessary
375375 for the child's treatment or care and shall include only that
376376 information necessary to provide for the treatment or care of
377377 the child;
378378 (16) any other person or entity, by order of
379379 the court, having a legitimate interest in the case or the work
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408408 of the court who agrees not to otherwise release the records;
409409 [and]
410410 (17) the child, if fourteen years of age or
411411 older; and
412412 (18) the child protection authority and its
413413 staff, pursuant to the requirements of the Abuse and Neglect
414414 Act, if the records are needed for the purpose of implementing
415415 the Child Protection Authority Act .
416416 D. If disclosure of otherwise confidential records
417417 is made to the child or any other person or entity pursuant to
418418 a valid release of information signed by the child, all victim
419419 or witness identifying information shall be redacted or
420420 otherwise deleted.
421421 E. Whoever intentionally and unlawfully releases
422422 any information or records closed to the public pursuant to
423423 this section or releases or makes other unlawful use of records
424424 in violation of this section is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.
425425 F. The department shall promulgate rules for
426426 implementing disclosure of records pursuant to this section and
427427 in compliance with state and federal law and the Children's
428428 Court Rules."
429429 SECTION 9. A new section of the Children's Code is
430430 enacted to read:
431431 "[NEW MATERIAL] NOTIFICATION OF CHILD PROTECTION
432432 AUTHORITY.--The department shall notify all children placed in
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461461 the custody of the department, receiving services under the
462462 supervision of the department, referred to the department or
463463 whose parents, guardians or custodians are under investigation
464464 by the department and the children's parents, guardians, foster
465465 parents or identified fictive kin of the existence of the child
466466 protection authority, the child protection authority's purpose,
467467 function, toll-free hotline and electronic communication
468468 portal."
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