NMSA 32A-31-3. Families first strategic plan; department duties; families

32A-31-3. Families first strategic plan; department duties; families first services; time line; implementation. A. In consultation with the early childhood education and care department, the health care authority and the department of health, the department shall develop and implement the families first strategic plan. In developing the families first strategic plan, the department shall: (1) ensure that provisions of the families first strategic plan align with and meet the requirements set forth in the federal Family First Prevention Services Act; and (2) maximize resources from the federal government under Title IV-E that are available to the department to provide families first services. B. The families first strategic plan required pursuant to Subsection A of this section shall: (1) include a comprehensive description of the department's responsibilities and duties for providing families first services; (2) include a comprehensive and detailed list of each of the families first services the department will provide to eligible persons and affirm that each service to be provided: (a) is eligible for reimbursement pursuant to the federal Family First Prevention Services Act; and (b) is rated as promising, supported or well-supported in accordance with the Title IV-E prevention services clearinghouse; (3) identify all network services providers, including other state agencies, that the department will use for providing families first services. If services are provided by another state agency, the department, together with the other state agency, shall establish safety monitoring protocols for direct monitoring of the services provided by that agency and, for each provider used by the department, list the specific families first service that the network services provider will provide, including: (a) mental health or substance abuse prevention and treatment; (b) in-home parent skill-based programs; (c) kinship navigator programs; or (d) any other programs or services that are eligible or become eligible for reimbursement pursuant to the federal Family First Prevention Services Act; (4) identify and define the population of eligible persons who may receive families first services and include, at a minimum: (a) a child who is a candidate for foster care but who can remain safely at home with the provision of evidence-based services; (b) a parent, guardian or caregiver of a child at risk of entering foster care; (c) a pregnant or parenting youth in foster care; and (d) other eligible persons identified by the department; (5) identify processes and procedures to be established and followed by the department to determine eligibility for any families first service; (6) identify processes and procedures to be established and followed by the department to maximize federal reimbursements, funding and resources available to the department to provide families first services; (7) identify the process that the department will use to monitor and oversee the safety of children who receive families first services and programs, as required by the federal Family First Prevention Services Act; (8) establish appropriate metrics the department will use to determine and evaluate outcomes from the department's provision of families first services pursuant to the Families First Act, including outcomes related specifically to repeated substantiated reports of maltreatment of a child and the numbers of children entering foster care; (9) establish an appropriate time line and strategy for providing families first services statewide. The time line shall include the following: (a) no later than June 30, 2027, the department shall provide families first services through a pilot program that is designed for implementation considering factors such as county population density and rates of child maltreatment and repeat maltreatment; and (b) no later than June 30, 2032, the department shall provide statewide implementation of families first services rolled out in a manner consistent with the best practices derived from the evaluation of the pilot program; (10) provide a detailed description of how the department will continuously monitor the families first strategic plan, from development of the plan through the pilot program phase and to statewide implementation. Included in that description shall be how the department will monitor key factors likely to best ensure fidelity to the service model developed within the families first strategic plan; and (11) identify the appropriate information to include in an annual report to be provided by the department to the legislative finance committee, the interim legislative health and human services committee, the interim legislative committee that studies courts, corrections and justice and the governor. At a minimum, the annual report shall include the following information: (a) an up-to-date inventory of all families first services available; (b) data, without inclusion of personal identifier information, regarding the uptake and program completion among eligible individuals of families first services, including the area of the state in which the services were accessed; (c) performance results regarding identified outcome measures, to include aggregate data about child participant placement status at the beginning of services and one year after services and whether the child entered foster care within two years after being determined a candidate for foster care and receiving families first services; and (d) fiscal information regarding program and service expenditures and disaggregating state and federal revenue sources. C. For the purposes of this subsection, "approving authority" means the federal administration for children and families. The department shall: (1) no later than August 1, 2025, finalize the provisions of the families first strategic plan, post the plan to the department's website and provide a copy of the plan to the legislative finance committee, the interim legislative health and human services committee, the interim legislative committee that studies courts, corrections and justice and the governor; (2) no later than September 1, 2025: (a) submit the families first strategic plan to the approving authority for approval; and (b) begin providing families first services pursuant to the provisions of the Families First Act; (3) if a submitted strategic plan is not approved and the approving authority indicates that to secure an approval, the strategic plan must be revised, as soon as practicable: (a) revise the families first strategic plan in accordance with the revisions required by the approving authority; and (b) submit the revised strategic plan to the approving authority; and (4) include in the department's reports required pursuant to the Families First Act the status of each families first strategic plan submitted to the approving authority for approval, including any specific revisions required, the dates of submissions and the dates of approval or nonapproval by the approving authority for each submitted strategic plan and any other relevant information related to the status of a families first strategic plan submitted to the approving authority by the department. D. No later than July 1, 2026, and by each July 1 thereafter, the department shall post the annual report as established in the families first strategic plan pursuant to the Families First Act to the department's website, and the department shall submit the annual report to the legislative finance committee, the interim legislative health and human services committee, the interim legislative committee that studies courts, corrections and justice and the governor. History: Laws 2025, ch. 156, § 16.