About the Council
Authority
The Substitute Care Advisory Council (Council) is authorized by both state and federal law: in New Mexico, the Citizen Substitute Care Review Act (Act), §§32A-8-1 et seq. and federally, the Child Abuse Prevention & Treatment Act (CAPTA), 42 U.S.C. §5101 et seq.
The purpose of the Act is to provide a permanent system for independent and objective monitoring of children placed in the custody of the NM Children, Youth & Families Department (CYFD) and evaluate the extent to which CYFD is effectively discharging its child protection responsibilities. This includes the CAPTA requirement to review the state agency’s compliance with the CAPTA state plan, the coordination with foster care and adoption programs, and to provide public outreach and comment. The Act, as revised July 1, 2016, established the Council which is administratively attached to the NM Regulation & Licensing Department in accordance with the provisions of Section 9-1-7 NMSA 1978.
Both the Act and CAPTA require the participation of citizens and allow individual case reviews to meet mandates. See the ‘Volunteers’ link at the top of this page for more information on citizen participation.
Per the Act, the responsibilities of the Council include:
- Annually:
- Meet at least twice.
- Appoint a 6 member advisory committee from the membership.
- Present a report with recommendations to CYFD, the courts and appropriate legislative interim committees, on or before November 1 of each year, regarding statutes, rules, policies and procedures relating to substitute care and any recommendations for changes in substitute care review boards.
- Adopt reasonable rules relating to the functions and procedures of the substitute care review boards and the Council in accordance with the duties of the boards as provided in the Act. Rules shall include:
- Criteria for membership and training requirements for substitute care board members;
- Information needed for cases to be monitored;
- Case information to be tracked and reported;
- Criteria for procedures for substitute care review boards and designation of cases for review, including weighing the importance of:
- sibling placements;
- frequency and severity of neglect or abuse;
- behavioral health status of household members;
- placement of children in households where there are no relatives of the children;
- data related to demographics; and
- relevant trend data.
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Act requires the Council to appoint a 6 member Advisory Committee to one year renewable terms. The members are selected from the current membership. The Advisory Committee advises the Council on matters related to substitute care review.
Members
Maria Ortiz Bustos (Doña Ana County)
Jack Carpenter (Taos County)
Mary Carr (Eddy County)
Yvonne Tallent (San Miguel County)
Nancy Treat (Santa Fe County)
Vacant
Council Meetings
Per NMAC 8.26.7, the Council meets at least quarterly and may meet more frequently upon the call of the Chair. Notice of these meetings is provided in the Albuquerque Journal and the agenda is provided on this website in accordance with the Council’s Open Meetings Act Resolution adopted July 7, 2020. Click on each of the below for more information regarding FY 21 meetings.
July 2020
The Council held a regular meeting via electronic platform on Tuesday 7 July 2020.
August 2020
The Council held a regular meeting via electronic platform on Tuesday 4 August 2020.
September 2020
The Council will hold a regular meeting on Tuesday 1 September 2020 at 1:30 p.m. The meeting will be held via electronic platform. For access link contact Shelly Bucher at shelly.bucher@state.nm.us or 505.469.4781.
October 2020
The Council is scheduled to meet on:
6 October 2020 at 1:30 p.m. via virtual platform. For access contact Shelly A. Bucher at shelly.bucher@state.nm.us or 505.469.4781.
27 October 2020 at 1:30 p.m. via virtual platform. For access contact Shelly A. Bucher at shelly.bucher@state.nm.us or 505.469.4781.
December 2020
The Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday 1 December 2020 at 1:30 p.m. via electronic platform.
January 2021
The Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday 5 January 2021 at 1:30 via electronic platform. For access contact Shelly A. Bucher at shelly.bucher@state.nm.us or 505.469.4781.
February 2021
The Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday 9 February 2021 at 5:00 p.m. via virtual platform.
For access information, contact Shelly A. Bucher, LMSW 505.469.4781 or shelly.bucher@state.nm.us
May 2021
The Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday 4 May 2021 at 11:00 a.m. via virtual platform has been cancelled.
Council Annual Reports
The federal Child Abuse & Prevention Treatment Act (CAPTA) requires the Council to issue an annual report which contains a summary of activities and recommendations to improve the child protection response system at the state and local levels. CAPTA further requires CYFD to provide a written response within 6 months of the date of the submission of the annual report. The written response is to ‘state and local response systems’ and must included a description of ‘whether or how [CYFD] will incorporate the recommendations of the [Council] (where appropriate) to make measurable progress in improving the State and local child protection system”. Click on each of the below to find the Council’s annual report and CYFD’s written response.
The Act requires the Council to issue an annual report to CYFD, the courts and appropriate interim legislative committees regarding statutes, rules, policies and procedures relating to substitute care and any recommendations for changes in substitute care review boards. The Act does not require any entity to provide a written response.
FY 21
The Council did not have a quorum to approve an annual report specific to FY 21. It is anticipated the Council’s FY 22 report will include both FY 21 and FY 22 data.
Council Staff
The Act allows the Council to ‘hire staff and contract for services to carry out the purposes of the’ Act. Click on the positions below for a brief introduction to the staff of the Council.
Director
Shelly A. Bucher, LMSW serves as the Director for the Council. She has been in this position since October 2016 having previously administered a contract for citizen review boards. Ms. Bucher holds a Master of Social Work with a concentration in Administration from the University of Kansas and a Bachelor of Social Work and a BS in Human Development and Family Studies from Kansas State University. She has 31 years of child welfare experience; 19 years of which are in NM. Some of her past positions include:
Director, Southwest Region National Child Protection Center at NMSU.
Interim Director NMSU School of Social Work (3 years).
General Inspection Specialist, European Command Headquarters, Stuttgart Germany.
Relocation Readiness Program Manager, Army Community Services, Stuttgart Germany.
Settlement Administrator, Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS).
Director Child Development Center, Saudi Arabia.
Social Worker (Investigations/Foster Care), KS SRS.
Coordinators
Coordinators responsibilities include conducting reviews of children/youth in CYFD custody in accordance with Council rules as well as public outreach and member facilitation. Click on each name to learn more!
Administrative Assistant
Ray Villegas is an Air Force veteran and retired Postmaster who, since October 2016, has been sharing his knowledge and skills to organize and maintain resources to support the functioning of Council Staff. Mr. Villegas is from Deming, NM and attended Western New Mexico University.
Case Reviews
In FY 20 the Council adopted the Quality Services Review (QSR) model for the review of children/youth in the custody of CYFD. The QSR model examines delivery of services and adherence to proactic expectations.
According to the Center for Study of Social Policy: “The rigorous QSR process is an integral part of continuous quality improvement efforts and should be used to inform system practice changes.”
The QSR model is used in some form in 20 states, including Washington D. C. it identifies:
- What is working and what isn’t working at the point of practice.
- Immediate adjustments to front-line practice.
- Realistic solutions that lead to immediate action.
- Local and state-level system trends and policy needs.
Council Staff of Director and Coordinators must be certified in the QSR model and volunteers must complete QSR orientation training.
Case Review Selection Criteria
FY 21
All children and youth in the custody of CYFD may have their progress towards permanency reviewed by the Council.
A community member or Interested Party in a specific case may request the Council review a case. Click on ‘send us a message’ at the top of the page to request a child/youth for review.
Other factors considered for case review include:
- Placement in institutions or congregate care.
- Number of changes of placements.
- Youth aged 13-18.
- Sibling groups/sibling splits.
- Follow up on past reviews.
