New Mexico’s children, youth and families department seeks to ensure quality supervision is provided to staff across all child welfare services and managerial levels within protective services that aligns with the mission and values of the agency, as well as to ensure that supervisory practice is conducted within the mandatory framework. The supervisory framework includes educational, administrative and supportive functions. The following statements reflect the agency’s best practice standards regarding families, how the case process should work, where children should live, working in teams, importance of families’ culture, collaboration and partnerships.

1. A. Regarding families, best practices include:

   1. (1) children, youth, young adults and parents are the experts on their own lives, are motivated to recognize their strengths and needs, and must have a lead role in working toward change that matches their developmental abilities;
   2. (2) caseworkers must base their relationships with children, youth, young adults and parents on mutual trust and respect, using open, honest, skillful, informed and transparent communication;
   3. (3) networks of support (extended family, other fictive kin and naturally occurring support systems) and all resource families are vital to the wellbeing and success of the people served by the New Mexico CYFD;
   4. (4) it is essential to maintain parent, sibling, and extended family connections through frequent family visitation in safe and natural settings;
   5. (5) children, youth, young adults, and parents are full partners who bring a unique perspective that must be heard and valued; as such, CYFD strives to engage them in all aspects of practice and system improvements.

2. B. Regarding how the case process should work, best practices include:

   1. (1) effective practice is strength-based using assessments and case plans to build on the strengths of children, youth, young adults, parents and communities in a collaborative, solution-focused way;
   2. (2) practice is individualized and assessments, services, and supports enhance and address each person’s strengths and needs;
   3. (3) frequent and purposeful contacts, and visits by caseworkers, support families in achieving their goals;
   4. (4) when interventions and culturally appropriate services are limited or not available, caseworkers and leadership must work collaboratively with families and communities to identify creative solutions that resolve the need;
   5. (5) child welfare staff and providers must receive the training and support needed to ensure best practice, and caseload assignments that permit the integration of guiding values and beliefs in their daily work. C. Regarding where children should live, best practices include:
   6. (1) children, youth and young adults need to remain safely at home in their families and communities whenever possible;
   7. (2) services must occur in the least restrictive, most family-like setting appropriate for the child’s and family’s needs;
   8. (3) when children are placed in out-of-home care, placements should be with relatives or fictive kin, geographically close to their family, with siblings safely placed together;
   9. (4) when non-kin caregivers must be used, they should be licensed, competent, informed, supported, and promote permanency for the child or youth;
   10. (5) children, youth, and young adults need and deserve a permanent family;
   11. (6) children at risk of disruptions should receive services as soon as possible to stabilize placements;
   12. (7) congregate care is an intervention for behavioral or mental health challenges, services must match the needs of the child, youth or young adult and be provided for only as long as necessary.

3. D. Regarding working in teams, best practices include:

   1. (1) the team process values multiple perspectives and is often capable of creative and high quality decision-making than an individual;
   2. (2) assessments, completed in partnership with children, youth, young adults, and parents, need to include suggestions and contributions from the full family team;
   3. (3) children, youth, young adults, and family team members provide valuable ideas for identifying resources, keeping children and youth safe, reviewing progress on the service plan, and recognizing what is needed;
   4. (4) staff are the agencies greatest asset and all staff members in the agency play a part in supporting staff retention;
   5. (5) creating a culture that nurtures creative and critical thought, embraces diversity, and unties the agency’s shared skills, knowledge, and experience in support of one team is vital.

4. E. Regarding the importance of families’ culture, best practices include:

   1. (1) children, youth, young adults, and parents have the right to define and be understood within the contact of their own culture;
   2. (2) the agency strives to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities and dismantle structural inequity experienced by children, youth, young adults, and parents;
   3. (3) the agency has a responsibility to convey information and implement services in a manner that is developmentally, culturally, and linguistically appropriate and respectful;
   4. (4) Native American families are entitled to receive active efforts to prevent the removal of their children and to reunify them if separation is necessary. Staff play a crucial role in ensuring that Native American families receive the support needed to keep their families intact through skilled case interventions.

5. F. Regarding collaboration and partnership, best practices include:

   1. (1) the agency supports a collaborative approach to coordinating care and services with individuals, families, providers, systems, and community stakeholders;
   2. (2) collaboration with all divisions, across all levels, strengthens our practice and expands the services and supports available to meet the needs of children, youth, young adults, and parents;
   3. (3) the agency commits to working with community stakeholders to reduce disproportionality and disparities within the child welfare system, including outreach and engagement strategies to share information, obtain feedback, solicit buy-in, share resources and develop collaborative solutions with the broader community;

   4. (4) the use of disaggregated data is key to assessing needs and ensuring the equitable distribution of child welfare resources across communities to reduce disproportionality and disparities.

      HISTORY OF 8.8.2 NMAC:

      Pre-NMAC History: The material in this part was derived from that previously filed with the State Records Center and Archives under:

      SSD 2.0.0, General Provisions - Service Availability, filed 8/21/1986;

      SSD 2.0.0, General Provisions - Service Availability, filed 1/29/1987;

      SSD 2.0.0, General Provisions - Service Availability, filed 1/13/1988;

      SSD 2.0.0, General Provisions - Service Availability, filed 6/14/1988;

      SSD 2.0.0, General Provisions - Service Availability, filed 3/28/1989;

      SSD 2.0.0, General Provisions - Service Availability, filed 3/15/1991;

      HSSD 74-12 Social Services Manual filed 3/11/1974;

      SSD 2.1.0, General Provisions - Regulations, filed 8/21/1986;

      SSD 2.1.0, General Provisions - Regulations, filed 3/15/1991;

      SSD 2.2.0, General Provisions - Application for Services and Determination of Eligibility, filed 8/21/1986;

      SSD 2.2.0, General Provisions - Application for Services and Determination of Eligibility, filed 1/29/1987;

      SSD 2.2.0, General Provisions - Application for Services and Determination of Eligibility, filed 6/18/1987;

      SSD 2.2.0, General Provisions - Application for Services and Determination of Eligibility, filed 11/18/1987;

      SSD 2.2.0, General Provisions - Application for Services and Determination of Eligibility, filed 1/13/1988;

      SSD 2.2.0, General Provisions - Application for Services and Determination of Eligibility, filed 7/14/1989;

      SSD Rule #435.0000 General Provision - Delivery of Services, filed 10/16/1981;

      SSD 2.3.0 General Provisions - Delivery of Services, filed 8/21/1986;

      SSD 2.3.0 General Provisions - Delivery of Services, filed 11/18/1987;

      SSD 2.3.0 General Provisions - Delivery of Services, filed 9/18/1990;

      SSD 2.4.0, General Provisions - Termination of Services, filed 8/21/1986;

      SSD Rule #260.0000, Confidential Nature of Information Obtained in Operation of Program, filed 11/10/1981;

      SSD 2.5.0, General Provisions - Confidentiality, filed 8/21/1986;

      SSD Rule #250.0000 Fair Hearings filed 11/10/1981;

      SSD 2.6.0 General Provisions - Administrative Review, filed 8/21/1986;

      SSD 2.6.0, General Provisions - Administrative Review, filed 1/29/1987;

      SSD 2.6.0, General Provisions - Administrative Review of SSD Decisions, filed 9/17/1993;

      SSD 2.7.0 General Provision - Legal Authority for Services to Children, filed 8/22/1986;

      SSD 2.8.0, General Provisions - Legal Authority Adult Services, filed 8/22/1986;

      SSD 2.9.0, General Provisions - Overview of Child and Family Services, filed 8/22/1986.

      History of Repealed Material:

      8 NMAC 8.2, Protective Services Division General Policies, filed 6/16/1997 - Repealed effective 2/14/2001.

      8.8.2 NMAC, Protective Services Division General Policies, filed 2/1/2001 - Repealed effective 7/30/2004.

      8.8.2 NMAC, Protective Services General Policies, filed 7/16/2004 - Repealed effective 11/15/2005.

      8.8.2 NMAC, Protective Services General Policies, filed 11/1/2005 - Repealed effective 3/31/10.

[8.8.2.27 NMAC – N, 5/25/2021]