Office of Tribal Affairs
Office of Tribal Affairs includes initiatives for New Mexico’s Nations, Pueblos, and Tribes, ensuring CYFD’s compliance with and implementation of ICWA/IFPA, consultation, coaching and training for individual child welfare workers, units, counties, or regions, and facilitates meetings with Tribal partners and community-based organizations to improve services to Tribal children, youth, and families.
Vision
The Children, Youth and Families Department Office of Tribal Affairs is committed to maintaining government to government relationships, partnering, and working closely with Pueblos/Nations/Tribes throughout the country, to ensure the federal requirements of the Indian Child Welfare Act, the Indian Family Protection Act, the NM Children’s Code, and other laws that govern the standards for child welfare, are being fulfilled.
Mission
- Respect, build, and maintain relationships with tribal communities through trust and transparency.
- Communicate and partner with tribal communities.
- Serve by listening, respecting, and fostering diverse cultures to keep Indian children and their families together, healthy, safe, and stable.
- Nurture the strength and resilience of Indian families.
- Support CYFD personnel in utilizing tribally responsive practices.
- Provide supportive services and technical assistance to CYFD workforce, the Pueblos/Nations/Tribes, Tribal partners, the NM Tribal-State Judicial Consortium, and other stakeholder to ensure the needs of American Indian/Alaskan Native children, youth and families are being met in a culturally responsive manner.
Values
Relationships, accountability, tribally responsive practice, inclusion, transparency, trust, integrity, service oriented, and community.