Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Post file photo

By ESTEBAN CANDELARIA
The Santa Fe New Mexican

Cher Baca’s foster daughter came to her with almost nothing but the clothes on her back.

The now-14-year-old had no nice belongings she could call her own, Baca said, bringing with her just one pair of shoes that fit and bags of possessions and clothes that didn’t fit her. Getting her the things a teenage girl needs — makeup, a dresser, a bed — was expensive, as is every part of taking in a child who has faced abuse or neglect.

“Having an extra child in your house increases all of your bills,” the Albuquerque resident said in an interview, adding that while the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department provides help to support those children, “it never really covers much.”

“It covers the basics, so any governmental help would be amazing to help cover all of those expenses,” she added. “Foster parents deserve that.”

Several proposals aimed at financially supporting families raising abused or neglected children are making their way through the Roundhouse this legislative session, including a pair of bills to create new tax credits for foster parents and sometimes guardians and a third measure to expand the tax credit for adopting children with special needs to all families with adopted children.

The bills face an uphill battle this year, with just about three weeks left in the legislative session and doubts the measures will make it into the state’s larger tax package.

Rep. Rebecca Dow, R-Truth or Consequences, sponsored many of the tax credit proposals this legislative session:

• House Bill 207, which under a committee substitute would expand the credit for adopting children to $5,000;
• House Bill 225, which would create the Foster Parent Income Tax Credit that would provide $100 per week for each child a family takes in;
• Senate Bill 335, creating the Foster Parent and Guardian Income Tax, which would provide $500 per month with a maximum of $6,000 per year. 

The bills, Dow said, aim to help at-risk youth find their “forever homes” as well as removing barriers foster and other families face in taking such children in.

“They all put out much more than they receive,” she said. “… These people are giving to the most vulnerable population in our state, and we need to acknowledge them.”

However, Dow said she expected the bills making their way into the Legislature’s omnibus tax package was a “very long shot,” noting such proposals often must go through long-term, extensive vetting.

Even so, she expressed some frustration at the slim chances she expected for the tax credits.

“At some time, this body has to make vulnerable children a priority,” Dow said.

In a written response to a question about whether the bills were being considered for the state’s omnibus tax package, House Democrats spokesperson Camille Ward said generally that the House Taxation and Revenue Committee is “still in the process of considering bills for inclusion in the tax package.”

“Protecting the well-being of all of New Mexico’s children, whether they are being raised by biological parents, chosen parents, or in the custody of our child welfare system is our top priority,” she said.

Senate Democrats spokesperson Chris Nordstrum added in an email it’s too soon to speculate about whether the tax credits would be included in the larger package, adding that “once we have a clear view of the budgetary capacity for a tax package, the respective tax committees will begin building out a bill (assuming there is some capacity).”

“Nothing is off the table yet,” he wrote.

The state’s executive branch has also proposed bolstering financial support for foster families, adding a $9.8 million request from the state’s general fund to hike monthly stipends by up to $900 per child in CYFD’s budget proposal.

But lawmakers left that ask out of House Bill 2, the statewide spending plan approved by the chamber this week, along with a number of other CYFD requests, leading to the department calling the proposed state budget a “severe underfunding” of the agency.

“We’ve learned through recruiting that many New Mexicans are interested in becoming foster parents but the additional expense of caring for a child or youth can be prohibitive, especially considering inflation. That’s why the state needs to step up and help,” agency spokesperson Andrew Skobinsky said in a written statement. “… We urge the Senate to recognize the damaging effect of underfunding foster families, and the child welfare services CYFD provides.”

Nordstrum noted the budget proposal includes $100,000 to study rate hikes for foster families as a means of informing possible increases in a “thoughtful, evidence-based way.” He added the state could also seek federal reimbursement for future rate hikes.

One piece of legislation touted by Ward has made significant progress through the Roundhouse, sailing through the floor of the House on Thursday. House Bill 252, which currently carries two dozen sponsors from both sides of the aisle, would set up a new three-year pilot program to help a variety of caregivers such as grandparents and other kin claim government benefits.

Jessica Naranjo, who alongside her husband cares for four of her grandchildren, said the pilot program would provide much-needed support to her family, noting she is a guardian of her grandchildren and does not qualify for supports CYFD provides to foster families.

“It’s really important to a lot of the families out there that are not in the system to provide this care to our children,” she said in an interview.

Esteban Candelaria is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. He covers child welfare and the state Children, Youth and Families Department. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.