Supported

After the 2025 legislative session, the Child Care Facility Revolving Loan Fund (CCFRLF) received over $12 million dollars to provide low-interest, long-term loans to eligible child care providers to make health and safety improvements to child care facilities, expand or create new ones, or invest in operating capital. In September 2025, ECECD partnered with the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA) to open the loan’s application, and as of February 2026, NMFA has begun the underwriting process to approve loans for ten projects and is working with their governing board to approve funding for two additional projects. Once all projects are complete, NMFA and ECECD expect that an additional 1,100 children will be able to receive high-quality child care through new and expanded facilities.

The Governor signed the Kinship Caregiver Support Pilot Program Act into law on April 6, 2025. Administered by Aging & Long Term Services Department (ALTSD), this program provides legal assistance, financial support, and navigation support to qualifying kinship caregivers who do not receive financial support from CYFD. Kinship caregivers in Rio Arriba and San Juan counties began receiving services in November 2025. As of March 2026, the program has 70 families enrolled, with 47 families in Rio Arriba and 23 families in San Juan. Of the participating families, 60 are receiving a financial stipend. The Taos County pilot will launch in April 2026. ALTSD contracts with Pegasus Legal Services for Children to assist adults providing kinship guardianship to children with legal process of establishing guardianship. In FY25 Pegasus provided direct legal assistance to 415 families, direct legal representation to 189 families, and community education services to 775 families statewide.

In September 2025, the US Census Bureau released the Official Poverty Measure (OPM), a three-year review which reflects household income, poverty, health insurance, and other financial metrics. Also of note is the supplemental poverty index, another federal poverty measure which incorporates state support programs and tax provisions. Under this measure, child poverty in New Mexico fell by 10.3 percent in FY25

New Mexico provides several tax credits and rebates for families. See more info here.

The Working Families Tax Credit is based on the federal earned income tax credit. In FY25, the NM Tax and Revenue Department received 208,205 claims, totaling nearly $136 million in credits to taxpayers.

The Child Income Tax Credit enables parents and caregivers to claim a tax credit for every qualifying child. In FY25, the State had 257,526 claims, adding up to more than $139 million in tax credits.

Another critical rebate for families is the LowIncome Comprehensive Tax Rebate, which provides a rebate of up to $731 to taxpayers with a modified gross income of less than $36,000.

Housing is a fundamental aspect of safety for children and families: safe and stable housing allows caregivers to work and children to consistently attend school. Recognizing this, DWS has created the Office of Housing with approximately $140 million allocated from the state’s general fund. This office, which is currently focused on site readiness and housing innovations, has issued a Request for Proposals to contract with qualified organizations already involved in housing activities. The Office of Housing will serve as a hub for building projects and will address related housing challenges across the state, seeking innovative and sustainable solutions to house New Mexico families.

Operated by PED, the GRADS program is a statewide initiative for expectant and parenting teens located in 30 school sites throughout the state. In 2025, 311 teen parents were served throughout New Mexico. Eighty seven percent of GRADS mothers graduated on time, compared with 57 percent of teen parents nationally.

In 2023, nine in ten schools in New Mexico reported cyberbullying, highlighting the prevalence of technology and online engagement during classroom hours. With the passage of Senate Bill 11 “Anti-Distraction Policy in Schools” in 2025, state leaders are taking steps to address this considerable challenge. The act requires that each school district and charter school create and implement a wireless communication device policy as guided by PED. Including charter schools, 99 percent of school districts across New Mexico have enacted wireless communication device policies since the law was put into effect on June 20, 2025.

School bullies or their victims are at risk of school dropout, poor psychosocial adjustment, criminal activity and other negative long-term consequences. Prevention and early intervention programs need to begin at preschool and elementary school; and continue through middle and high school. This is not a situation of “kids will be kids” but something parents and schools need to learn to deal with for the bullying child as well as the victim. Schools with easily understood rules of conduct, smaller class sizes and fair discipline practices report less violence.

The Family Services Division brings together prevention programs that have historically been spread across multiple divisions within CYFD. These programs all focus on prevention & intervention, however, have been overshadowed by the demanding nature within the other divisions, such as Protective Services and Juvenile Justice. The prevention programs within Family Services focus on prevention and early intervention strategies that reduce risk factors and promote being proactive with families rather than reactive.  Programs within the Family Services Division work toward supporting family stability and well being, with the goal of supporting families before a crisis strikes or before a situation creates an unsafe environment for children. The division is designed and supported to provide programming that strengthens protective factors within families. These protective factors include:

• Parental resilience
• Social Connections
• Concrete support in times of need
• Knowledge of parenting and child development
• Problem solving and knowing what solutions work.
• Healthy social and emotional development for children

CYFD’s Community Shelter Program provides facility-based shelters to serve any youth or child in New Mexico who needs housing. Priority populations served by the shelters are youth and children involved with CYFD Protective Services or Juvenile Justice. CYFD also provides community-based and multi-service home shelter programming.

BHS collaborates with other divisions to assist youth with their housing efforts. In SFY’23, PS assumed the administration of the Transitions Supportive Housing program that provides supportive housing vouchers to young adults aging out of CYFD care or exiting a JJS secure facility who having difficulty obtaining safe and stable housing due to their behavioral health needs. Young adults are eligible if they are 18 to 21 and have a behavioral health diagnosis. This program connects youth with supportive services when needed. It uses a Housing First approach, focusing on tenancy and allowing youth to make their own choices regarding the supports they need.

BHS continues its efforts to expand New and Innovative programming for adolescents and young adults. The Young Parent home program has been limited to a single facility in Hobbs and BHS released an RFA for a 2nd 6-bed facility. The intent is to provide trauma informed housing and clinical supportive services centered around the mother-child dyad. Unfortunately, the Young Parent Home program in Hobbs elected to close and there were no responses received to the SFY’22 RFA.  BHS plans to release a new RFA for a Young Parent Program in SFY’24.

In addition to the Young Parent Home, BHS released an RFA for the Safe House in Bernalillo County for young people ages 14 to 18. This program will provide services for some of the most vulnerable sub-populations of youth, Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking (DMST) survivors. A recipient of funding has been formally selected and BHS anticipates the Safe House in Bernalillo County will be operational in 2024. 

CYFD’s Youth Motivating Others through Voices of Experience New Mexico (Youth MOVE NM) chapter is a youth leadership and advocacy group of Youth MOVE National, consisting of youth who have successfully navigated the child welfare system. Youth MOVE NM members have been CYFD’s partners in advocacy, including during the successful 2020 Behavioral Health Week at the Legislature, for which they helped plan and execute the first ever Youth MOVE NM Day.

CYFD has engaged in various initiatives to support and elevate LGBTQ issues. In June 2020, CYFD announced a new non-discrimination directive, one of the most inclusive in the country. This directive stipulates that CYFD will not discriminate against any child or youth involved with any aspect of its system on the basis of: race; creed; religion; sex or gender; gender identity; gender expression; sexual orientation; marital status or partnership; familial or parental status; pregnancy and breastfeeding or nursing; disability; school districts and charter schools; HIV/AIDS status; survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; and housing status, including homelessness; or any other non-merit factor. The directives apply across all CYFD divisions and bureaus, as well as to contracted services and programs. The directive was significantly informed by input from youth and community stakeholders, including Lambda Legal, NMCAN, True Colors United, Family Equality, and Equality New Mexico. CYFD also worked with these groups to draft changes to language in the New Mexico Administrative Code to make it more inclusive. Some of those changes have already been promulgated while others are pending.

In FY20, CYFD established an Immigration Unit within the Department that is providing support to children, parents, and relatives with immigration issues. The Immigration Unit also assists with locating, assessing, and placing children with relatives in other countries. With this unit’s work, CYFD has been able to partner with legal services organizations who help eligible children in CYFD custody to screen and apply for legal relief, and to connect children to their parents who have been detained or deported by immigration authorities.  In FY23, all youth in foster care or who aged out of foster care between the ages of 14 and 26 are eligible for benefits and services provided by CYFD and Fostering Connections regardless of immigration status.

In FY20, CYFD changed foster care licensing policies to allow licensing of and subsidies to immigrant relative caregivers.  Immigrant relatives now receive the same supports to care for their relative children as other caregivers.

CYFD launched an Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Unit in FY20, born from strengthened partnerships between CYFD, the NM Tribal Indian Children Welfare Consortium, the NM Partners and the Tribal-State Judicial Consortium. The unit is staffed with a supervisor, attorney, and four ICWA Specialists who work to ensure that protective services cases have tribal involvement, children are in preferred placement, and culturally appropriate services are identified and implemented throughout the duration of the case.

Bernalillo County is piloting the very first ICWA Court in NM, which began taking cases January 1, 2020. The court has a specialized focus on compliance with the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (enacted in 1978 by Congress) and involves Tribes throughout the legal process of the case. The presiding judge, Special Master Catherine Begaye, is the first Native American to preside over an ICWA Court. The CYFD Juvenile Justice Division and Tribal partners recently implemented the Tribal Notification law, which requires earlier notification and continuous collaboration with Tribes on juvenile justice cases.

The New Mexico Corrections Department (NMCD) supports children and families in various ways through multiple programs through the Adult Prison Division, the Reentry Division, and the Probation and Parole Division. Institutional programs aim to provide individuals with therapeutic interventions, parenting tools, life skills, and enhanced communication skills. These programs are designed to facilitate positive role modeling and include opportunities for family reunification efforts. NMCD also supports children and families through visitation and family days, which help maintain relationships and continued contact with loved ones. Examples of some of the program opportunities for inmates include Malachi Dads, Moral Reconation Therapy Parenting, Charting a New Course, Inside Out Dads, Women in Leadership PB&J, Mom’s from the Inside, Wings for Life and Mommy and Me self-help groups. NMCD also provides countless other programs such as the PAWS program and gardening clubs which contribute to clients learning socialization, coping, and problem-solving skills. NMCD’s High School Equivalency graduations has increased this fiscal year again by 22% and the New Mexico Corrections Department achieved the highest number of high school equivalency attainments of any institute of adult education in the State for the second year. The New Mexico Corrections Department also saw 47 post-secondary degrees and certificates awarded this year.  These educational attainments and program services, assist individuals in becoming more engaged citizens, community members, family members and parents.

Upon transition into the community, NMCD continues to support individuals and their families by offering a range of supportive services, housing, and treatment opportunities. The department provides referrals and assistance with therapeutic services, including parenting and counseling for families, couples, and individuals in the community. NMCD also offers housing for mothers with minor children in two separate therapeutic residential programs. Families in the community, are provided with resources such as food, clothing, hygiene products, rental assistance, utility assistance, and transportation support, to ensure that clients remain in their homes and families remain stable.

NMCD actively supports the overall well-being of children and families in New Mexico by regularly participating in community outreach. The department collects food, clothing, school supplies, toys, and gift cards throughout the year, which are then donated to organizations statewide that assist families in need through schools, homeless shelters, food banks, and counseling agencies. NMCD also participates in gift card drives, which help provide shoes, transportation, utilities, clothing, and more. These efforts are collaborative with many nonprofit organizations and social service agencies. Partnerships with other state agencies such as the Department of Workforce Solutions; Children, Youth and Families Department; the Department of Health; and the Heath Care Authority ensure parents get the assistance they need to ensure the safety of children and allow NMCD clients to be active participants in their families.