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Photo credit: P.E.R.A. Building in Santa Fe, New Mexico; via Wikimedia Commons.
New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the agency repeatedly failed to protect two siblings from severe abuse while they were living with an adoptive family in Taos, Sara E. Teller of LegalReader.com reports.
The lawsuit, filed in 2022, alleged that CYFD received multiple reports raising concerns about abuse but failed to remove the children from the home or take other meaningful protective action. The settlement was reached in late July, with each child receiving $700,000.
The children had already been placed in state custody after concerns involving their biological parents. CYFD later identified the Taos family as a potential adoptive placement and ultimately approved the adoption.
Repeated Reports Allegedly Failed to Trigger Action
According to the lawsuit, CYFD first received a report in 2017 involving alleged physical abuse and inappropriate discipline.
The agency reportedly identified safety concerns during its investigation but did not substantiate the allegations. The case was closed, and the family was instead referred to community services.
Two years later, another report involving physical abuse and discipline was made. Again, the lawsuit alleges that CYFD closed the investigation and referred the family to services.
The complaint further accused the agency of failing to respond when the family did not follow through with those services.
In 2020, a school contacted CYFD with more serious concerns. School officials reportedly said the adoptive parents were withholding food from the boy. At the time, he was 11 years old and weighed less than 70 pounds.
Despite those warning signs, the lawsuit alleges that CYFD again closed the case without taking sufficient action.
Children Described Starvation and Other Abuse
The boy later said food was withheld as punishment and that he sometimes received only one hot dog for lunch and another for dinner. At one point, he reportedly went two days without eating.
The lawsuit also alleged that he was confined to his bedroom, prevented from leaving to use the bathroom and beaten by older children in the home.
His sibling was allegedly subjected to physical and sexual abuse.
CYFD eventually substantiated allegations of physical abuse and neglect, according to court records.
The adoptive parents were later criminally charged. The father also faced a charge of first-degree criminal sexual penetration of a child, among other offenses. Both parents ultimately entered no-contest pleas to lesser charges. The mother was sentenced to nine years in prison, while the father received a 20-year sentence.
Settlement Does Not Include Admission of Wrongdoing
CYFD spokesperson Jake Thompson said the department does not admit fault when resolving lawsuits through settlement.
He said the agency evaluates each case based on the facts and the risks associated with proceeding to trial, and determined that settlement was appropriate in this case.
The $1.4 million payment is the largest CYFD settlement reported so far in 2026. Searchlight New Mexico reported that the agency had paid more than $1.8 million in lawsuit and tort-claim settlements this year as of mid-August.
CYFD Already Under Broader Scrutiny
The settlement comes amid continuing concerns about how New Mexico’s child welfare system responds to reports of abuse and neglect.
In April, the New Mexico Department of Justice released a 224-page report following a yearlong investigation into CYFD. Investigators reviewed cases involving at least 28 children and identified failures including flawed abuse investigations, inadequate oversight and decisions that allegedly left some children in dangerous homes.
The report intensified scrutiny of an agency already subject to court oversight and reform efforts.
For the two siblings in the Taos case, the civil settlement brings the lawsuit to an end.
Survivors who were abused while under the care or supervision of a school, foster-care system, juvenile facility, religious organization or other institution may have claims not only against an individual abuser, but potentially against institutions that failed to protect them.
Learn more about institutional sexual abuse lawsuits.
