Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance

committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports

if they are used for other purposes.

Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).

Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and

attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.

F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Varela

DATE TYPED 1/24/2005 HB 97

SHORT TITLE Family Preservation Act

SB

ANALYST Dunbar

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

See Narrative

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD

NM Public Education Department (NMPED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 97 amends the Family Preservation Act renaming it as the Family Support Act. The

bill outlines the state’s policy of support for the family and emphasizes the responsibilities of

parents and the state in the healthy development of children and the family as an institution.

CYFD would be responsible for the implementation and coordination of the provision of family

support services; ensure the statewide quality of family support services by providing standards

and policies, monitoring the provisions of family support, providing training to persons who pro-

vide family support and establish a standardized intake process for the purpose of assessing the

needs of a child and family referred for family support services.

Significant Issues

NMPED expressed concern that the bill adds language to include “intact, functional families”

and “nuclear families” but does not define these terms. Other concerns of NMPED are that the

legislation does not outline how parental responsibility will be enforced and which agency is re-

House Bill 97 Page 2

sponsible for developing plans to support families as defined in Section 4. It is currently the

state’s responsibility to provide free, quality education in a safe learning environment

House Bill 97 relates to the family services offered by CYFD, New Mexico schools, mental

health and other social services providers that focus on helping vulnerable families stay together

as a functional family unit.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

This bill is consistent with CYFD performance measures relating to “front-end” prevention and

early intervention services.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

This bill is consistent with CYFD’s efforts to realign financial resources to “front-end” commu-

nity-based programs to address child and family issues at the earliest opportunity before inten-

sive and costly intervention approaches are necessary. NMPED indicates that

there could be a

significant fiscal impact on current programs for developing and implementing activities outlined

in the bill.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

This bill is consistent with CYFD’s efforts to expand “front-end” community-based services.

According to NMPED the bill would impact the amount of time the Public Education Depart-

ment (PED) staff spends on technical assistance, leadership and support for homeless education,

nutrition education and the effects that drugs, alcohol and tobacco have on the student, family

and community.

BD/yr