Senate approves bill to create task force aimed at recruiting and retaining foster parents

The New Mexico Senate on March 17 passed a bill creating a Quality Foster Parent Recruitment and Retention Task Force charged with recommending steps to recruit, train and retain foster families and to reduce the number of children placed in state offices.

Sponsor Senator Tobiason told the Senate, "Our kids can't wait," saying the measure aims to address a foster-care system that has left some children sleeping in state offices. The bill directs the task force to study successful models in other states, including Utah's reforms, and to report findings and recommendations by July 1, 2026.

The measure drew extensive floor debate. Senators asked whether the panel should be a memorial (a study document) or a statutory task force; supporters said a bill has more immediate force, while some colleagues preferred a memorial with operational support through a university. Senator Brantley offered and won an amendment to reduce certain CYFD-appointed at-large representation on the task force after senators raised concerns about too many seats being filled by the department the task force would evaluate.

Sponsor remarks and fiscal notes on the floor said the session budget includes funding to support recruitment and retention: the sponsor referenced about $1,250,000 in fiscal-year 2025-26 to recruit, train and support foster and treatment foster-care providers. The task force language also directs study of out-of-state models and specific topics such as training, per-diem and support needs for foster families.

Senators representing rural and Tribal areas emphasized the need to include voices with lived experience and local perspectives; the task force composition as amended includes tribal appointees and a slot for a young person who aged out of foster care. Several senators recounted personal experiences with foster placements, the difficulty of finding long-term placements and a high turnover among caseworkers (testimony cited a roughly 30% turnover rate and a quarter of positions vacant).

The floor adopted the Brantley amendment to reorder and remove one at-large CYFD designee, then passed the bill as twice-amended. The bill passed the Senate and was reported sent forward for further action; the transcript records senators voting in favor and a small number of no votes (several senators voiced reservations during debate). The record does not provide a single-line final roll-call tally in the transcript excerpt available.

Policy implications: supporters said the task force is intended to identify concrete operational changes, not only recruitment publicity, and to return recommendations that would guide further legislative or budget actions. Opponents and cautious senators urged strong attention to tribal sovereignty and to behavioral-health capacity, noting that lack of residential treatment beds and behavioral-health services is a major driver of placements that are hard to house in family foster settings.

Next steps: the task force is to complete its work by July 1, 2026, and the legislation includes procedural direction about membership, meetings and required reporting to the legislature.