{"id":44257,"date":"2021-10-12T23:40:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-13T05:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexico-pledges-support-for-tribal-adoptions-in-state-law\/"},"modified":"2021-10-13T05:40:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T05:40:00","slug":"new-mexico-pledges-support-for-tribal-adoptions-in-state-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/new-mexico-pledges-support-for-tribal-adoptions-in-state-law\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mexico pledges support for tribal adoptions in state law"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Retired
Retired state Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Vigil, right, appears at a news conference Aug. 10 in Santa Fe, as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham looks on. In her first public address Tuesday, Vigil, the new leader of New Mexico\u2019s child protection department pledges to restore the agency's credibility, and support new legislation that would increase accountability and strengthen laws protecting tribal children in adoption and fostercare. (Morgan Lee\/Associated Press file)<\/span>Morgan Lee<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SANTA FE \u2013 In her first prepared speech Tuesday, the new leader of New Mexico\u2019s child protection department pledged to restore the agency\u2019s credibility after a series of scandals under her predecessor.<\/p>\n

New Mexico Children Youth and Family Department Secretary Barbara J. Vigil also promised to enshrine federal law prioritizing tribal members in adoptions of Native American children into the practices of her department and state law.<\/p>\n

In an online speech to about 300 Native American child welfare advocates, the former New Mexico Supreme Court justice said she would increase transparency and accountability at the agency, which handles child abuse and neglect cases, as well as foster care and adoptions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must restore the credibility of CYFD,\u201d Vigil told the audience of Native American leaders and child welfare caseworkers.<\/p>\n

Vigil replaced former secretary Brian Blalock in August<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Blalock oversaw the department\u2019s switch to an encrypted app that drew controversy over institutionalized use of a feature to erase messages<\/a>, including those that may have been subject to record retention laws. State legislators recently accused him of misleading them earlier this year with data that downplayed the severity of child mistreatment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Under Blalock, the department resisted calls for more independent oversight, pointing to an advisory council and an advocacy office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will support the creation of an ombudsperson office,\u201d Vigil said, adding that legislation is under discussion.<\/p>\n

Under Blalock, the department suggested that an independent investigator wasn\u2019t necessary, because of an existing advisory committee.<\/p>\n

Vigil also said she would \u201ccontinue to support the creation of the Office of Children\u2019s Rights,\u201d a section of the department established under Blalock to advocate for vulnerable children.<\/p>\n

Vigil said she supports state lawmaker\u2019s attempts to enshrine the federal Indian Child Welfare Act into state law. The act passed in 1978 gives preference to Native American families in state foster care and adoption proceedings involving Native children.<\/p>\n

Supporters and opponents of the law have petitioned<\/a> the U.S. Supreme Court to review it after a lower court issued a sharply divided ruling that invalidated some of the law\u2019s placement preferences.<\/p>\n

Tribes and the U.S. Department of the Interior say the law protects Native American families and cultures. Opponents, including a white couple that adopted a Native child, contend the law is racist. <\/a><\/p>\n

Six states have copied federal requirements into their own laws, such as a duty to notify federally recognized tribes of involuntary custody proceedings. New Mexico is exploring taking the federal rules even further, for example, by making it easier for a tribal nation to facilitate an adoption under its own laws, as is the law in California.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have a commitment from the governor to take a look at it,\u201d said bill sponsor Rep. Georgene Louis, an Albuquerque Democrat, who said she sent a draft bill to Native American leaders last week. \u201cAll if not most tribes are on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every other year, the February Legislative session is shorter, and gives the governor more discretion to determine which legislation gets a vote.<\/p>\n

Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has not ruled or endorsed either of the proposed bills that could affect the child protection agency.<\/p>\n

Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Sackett said tribal adoption laws are being considered “in conversation with stakeholder groups\u201d including tribes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we believe it will be important to find ways to strengthen transparency and accountability at CYFD, and we have had conversations with legislative leaders about that, we are not yet committed to one path,” Sackett said, adding that the child advocacy position could be housed in another agency.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retired state Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Vigil, right, appears at a news conference Aug. 10 in Santa Fe, as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham looks on. In her first public address Tuesday, Vigil, the new leader of New Mexico\u2019s child protection department pledges to restore the agency's credibility, and support new legislation that would increase […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-44257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44257"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=44257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}