N.M. Code R. § 8.10.7.7 – Definitions

A. “Adjudication hearing” is the hearing that occurs within 60 days of service on the respondents at which the court determines whether the child is abused or neglected.
B. “Adjustment of status” is the application or procedure to obtain lawful permanent residency.
C. “Affidavit” means a sworn statement of facts and accompanies the petition for an ex-parte order. It is signed by any person who either has personal knowledge of the facts or has been informed of them and believes them to be true.
D. “Best interest of the child” is the standard that reflects the protection of the child from abuse and neglect. In motions to terminate parental rights and for permanent guardianship cases, the term encompasses stability and permanency in placement.
E. “Case planning issues” include placement decisions, permanency planning goals and treatment recommendations.
F. “Children’s Code” refers to the New Mexico Children’s Code, Section 32A-1-1, et. seq., NMSA 1978.
G. “Children’s court attorneys” are the attorneys who have been given the authority and the responsibility to represent protective services division (PSD) in child abuse and neglect and family in need of services proceedings.
H. “Child’s attorney” is a trained attorney appointed by the court to represent the child who is fourteen (14) years of age or older; also referred to as “youth attorney.”
I. “Citizenship and immigration services (CIS)” is the bureau within the department of homeland security responsible for processing immigrant related services and benefits, including special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS) and adjustment of status petitions.
J. “Constitutionally protected liberty interest,” in terms of the parent-child relationship, refers to the right of parents to the care, custody and nurture of their children; a parent’s constitutionally protected liberty interest includes retaining custody of one's children and, thus, a state may not interfere with a parent's custodial rights absent due process protections.
K. “Custodian” refers to an adult with whom the child lives who is not a parent or guardian.
L. “Custody hearing” is the hearing at which the court determines if probable cause exists for the child to remain in PSD’s custody pending adjudication.
M. “Date child enters foster care” means the earlier of 60 days from the date of removal of the child or the date of the adjudication of child abuse or neglect.
N. “Disposition” means the court hearing which establishes custody and where the court may adopt a treatment plan for the child and family.
O. “Emergency custody” exists when a child is removed from the parent’s home based upon a determination by law enforcement that the child is in need of protective custody or based upon an ex parte custody order.
P. “Ex parte custody order” is an order issued by the court pursuant to an ex parte affidavit that grants emergency custody to PSD.
Q. “Fictive kin” means a person not related by birth, adoption or marriage with whom the child has an emotionally significant relationship.
Q. “Foreign national” or “alien” means a person who is not a United States citizen.
R. “Guardian ad litem” is a trained attorney appointed by the court to represent and protect the best interests of the child in a neglect and abuse proceeding when the child is less than 14 years old.
S. “Immigration and customs enforcement (ICE)” refers to the bureau within the department of homeland security that carries out investigation and enforcement functions. ICE has no authority over SIJS.
T. “Indian child” refers to an unmarried person who is
1. (1) under the age of 18 years old;
2. (2) a member of an Indian tribe or is eligible for membership in an Indian tribe; and
3. (3) the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe.
U. “Infant” means a child less than one year of age.
V. “Juvenile court” under federal immigration law, means a court with jurisdiction under state law to make determinations over the care and custody of children. In New Mexico, the term used is children’s court rather than juvenile court.
W. “Lawful permanent resident” refers to a foreign national or alien with permission to live and work indefinitely in the United States, but who cannot vote (also known as a “green card holder”).
X. “Legal custody” means a legal status created by order of the children’s court or other court of competent jurisdiction or by operation of the New Mexico Children’s Code, Section 32A-4-1 et seq or 32A-3B-1 et seq, NMSA 1978, that vests in a person, department or agency the:
1. (1) right to determine where and with whom a child shall live;
2. (2) right and duty to protect, train and discipline the child and to provide the child with food, shelter, personal care, education and ordinary and emergency medical care;
3. (3) right to consent to major medical, psychiatric, psychological and surgical treatment and to the administration of legally prescribed psychotropic medications pursuant to the Children’s Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act; and
4. (4) right to consent to the child's enlistment in the armed forces of the United States.
Y. “Party” in a neglect and abuse proceeding is any individual named in the petition or subsequently granted that status in the case by the court.
Z. “Periodic review” is a court hearing where the court reviews the treatment plan (case plan) and may modify the plan or adopt a new plan.
AA. “Permanency hearing” is a court hearing where the court reviews the progress made in the case, determines the permanency plan for the child and creates orders to expedite the achievement of permanency for the child.
BB. “Permanency review hearing” is a court hearing held within three months of the permanency hearing when the court has adopted a permanency plan of reunification and a transition plan or a court hearing held within 60 days of the permanency hearing when the court has adopted a permanency plan other than reunification and has determined that reasonable efforts have not been made to identify or locate relatives or fictive kin or reasonable efforts have not been made to conduct home studies on appropriate relatives or fictive kin interested in providing permanency for the child.
CC. “Petition” means the document filed with the court setting forth the allegations of abuse or neglect and relief sought.
DD. “Protective services division (PSD)” refers to the protective services division of the children, youth and families department, and is the state’s designated child welfare agency.
EE. “Protective supervision” is ordered by the court to allow PSD to visit the child in the home where the child resides, inspect the home, transport the child to court-ordered diagnostic examinations and evaluations and obtain information and records concerning the child.
FF. “Reasonable medical judgment” means a medical judgment that would be made by a reasonably prudent physician, knowledgeable about the case and treatment possibilities with respect to the medical conditions involved.
GG. “Relative” means a person related to another person by blood within the fifth degree of consanguinity or through marriage by the fifth degree of affinity.
HH. “Respondent” refers to a parent, guardian or custodian of a child named in an abuse or neglect proceeding.
II. “Special immigrant juvenile status (SIJS)” refers to a status created by federal law that helps abused, neglected or abandoned a foreign national child in the juvenile court system to become lawful permanent residents where reunification and return to the country of origin are not viable options.
JJ. “Stipulation” is an admission or a plea of no contest by the respondent to one or more of the allegations in the petition.
KK. “Trial home visit” means the period of time, not to exceed six months, in which a child with a plan of reunification resides with the parent or guardian while services are provided to the child and family to address risk factors and ensure safety of the child.
LL. “Undocumented foreign national” or “undocumented alien” refers to a foreign national or alien without lawful immigration status in the United States. This includes persons who may have entered without legal permission or entered legally and overstayed his or her visa.
MM. “United States citizen” refers to a person born in the United States, Guam, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, or a person, who “naturalizes,” i.e., becomes a United States citizen upon an application after five (5) years of being a permanent resident. This also generally includes children born abroad to United States citizen parents.
NN. “Use immunity” means that the in-court testimony, statements made in the course of court ordered psychological evaluation or treatment program, records, documents or other physical objects produced by a respondent who has been granted use immunity status by the court shall not be used against that respondent in a criminal prosecution.
OO. “Withholding medically indicated treatment” means the failure to respond to a child’s life-threatening condition by providing treatment which, in the treating physician’s reasonable medical judgment, will be most likely to be effective in ameliorating or correcting all such conditions.

[8.10.7.7 NMAC - Rp, 8.10.7.7 NMAC, 3/31/2010; A, 5/25/2021]