The findings outlined in the recent New Mexico Department of Justice report on CYFD are deeply troubling and, frankly, heartbreaking. What should be a system designed to protect our most vulnerable children has, in too many cases, failed them when they needed it most.
As a mother, grandmother, and someone who has spent my life serving our communities as an Early Childhood Educator, I cannot accept a system where children are left in dangerous situations, where warning signs are ignored, and where accountability takes a backseat to bureaucracy.
Every child in New Mexico deserves to feel safe, protected, and valued, especially during the most difficult and traumatic moments of their lives. Families in District 4 deserve to know that when they reach out for help, there is a system in place that will respond with urgency, compassion, and competence.
When I am elected, I will fight to ensure that CYFD is held accountable to its core mission: protecting children first. That means supporting stronger oversight, ensuring properly trained and supported caseworkers, improving coordination with law enforcement, and demanding transparency when failures occur.
We must rebuild trust in this system; not with empty promises, but with real action and meaningful reform.
I will always stand with our families, and I will always fight for our children because nothing is more important than their safety, their dignity, and their future.
— Heather Ellison