A chaotic first day as a foster parent dealing with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department led Maralyn Beck to have a panic attack after thinking a baby had been lost due to a failure of communication by the department. Things didn’t get better from there, and the serious issues she witnessed and learned of in the months to follow led her to found a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children in foster care and empowering those who serve them. Beck, who is the executive director of the New Mexico Child First Network, has been working as an advocate to hold CYFD and New Mexico’s leaders to account over the past several years. She joins Santa Fe New Mexican senior politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón in the latest episode of “Around the Roundhouse” to share her perspective on the state of CYFD, which she says is broken and “worse than it’s ever been” in her time dealing with the department. Beck expresses her frustration with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in what Beck considers a further degradation of the long-troubled department in the governor’s two terms in office. She also shares her thoughts on how Teresa Casados has performed in her time as CYFD Cabinet secretary. She recounts several instances of fatalities and near fatalities of children who have been in CYFD custody. She also discusses large-scale issues that are leading to last-in-the-nation outcomes for New Mexico’s children in need, and what she thinks needs to be done to lead to improvements in child welfare services in the state.

A chaotic first day as a foster parent dealing with the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department led Maralyn Beck to have a panic attack after thinking a baby had been lost due to a failure of communication by the department. Things didn&rsquo;t get better from there, and the serious issues she witnessed and learned of in the months to follow led her to found a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children in foster care and empowering those who serve them. Beck, who is the executive director of the New Mexico Child First Network, has been working as an advocate to hold CYFD and New Mexico&rsquo;s leaders to account over the past several years. She joins Santa Fe New Mexican senior politics reporter Daniel J. Chac&oacute;n in the latest episode of &ldquo;Around the Roundhouse&rdquo; to share her perspective on the state of CYFD, which she says is broken and &ldquo;worse than it&rsquo;s ever been&rdquo; in her time dealing with the department. Beck expresses her frustration with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in what Beck considers a further degradation of the long-troubled department in the governor&rsquo;s two terms in office. She also shares her thoughts on how Teresa Casados has performed in her time as CYFD Cabinet secretary. She recounts several instances of fatalities and near fatalities of children who have been in CYFD custody. She also discusses large-scale issues that are leading to last-in-the-nation outcomes for New Mexico&rsquo;s children in need, and what she thinks needs to be done to lead to improvements in child welfare services in the state.

The Santa Fe New Mexican’s weekly podcast hosted by state government and lead politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón features the policies, politics and personalities at the state Capitol during New Mexico's 2025 legislative session.

The Santa Fe New Mexican&rsquo;s weekly podcast hosted by state government and lead politics reporter Daniel J. Chac&oacute;n features the policies, politics and personalities at the state Capitol during New Mexico's 2025 legislative session.

Around the Roundhouse

The Santa Fe New Mexican&rsquo;s weekly podcast hosted by state government and lead politics reporter Daniel J. Chac&oacute;n features the policies, politics and personalities at the state Capitol during New Mexico's 2025 legislative session.