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

SPONSOR Kernan

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/21/08

HB

SHORT TITLE CYFD Foster Care Applicant Drug Testing

SB 179

ANALYST Lucero

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY08

FY09

FY10 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

150.0-200.0 150.0-

200.0 300.0-

400.0 Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Attorney General Office (AGO)

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 179 amends sections of the Child Placement Agency Licensing Act (NMSA Sections

40-7A-1 et seq.) to require the Protective Services Division of the Children Youth and Families

Department to adopt rules providing for drug testing for controlled substances for applicants for

foster home licenses and for licensees seeking license renewal.

The bill authorizes that Division to deny, revoke, suspend, place on probation or refuse to renew

the license of any child placement agency or foster home for failure to pass a drug test or for

refusing to submit to a drug test.

The bill also amends the Act to correctly identify CYFD rather than HSD as the department with

responsibility.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There is no appropriation contained in the bill. There would be an estimated $150,000.00 to

$200,000 cost to CYFD to implement this requirement for CYFD licensed foster families. This

estimate is based upon the current number of licensed homes and an estimate of the annual

number of foster home applicants assuming $75.00 per drug test completed. This estimate does

Senate Bill 179 – Page

2

not include costs incurred by child placement agencies for the testing of applicants that apply to

be foster parents through those agencies.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

There is no appropriation contained within this legislation to support the activities required of

both CYFD and licensed private child placement agencies. Given the cost related to and the

limitations of drug testing, it does not appear to be an efficient and effective process by which to

screen all foster parent applicants. Over the counter, prescription and other legally available and

appropriately used substances can influence the results of drug tests creating both false negatives

and false positives. In addition, some substances that may have a significant impact on judgment

and behavior do not remain evident for a sufficient period of time to be captured by a drug test.

The evaluation of the appropriateness of an applicant for foster care is a highly complex activity

that is carried out by CYFD staff and child placement agency staff with sufficient education,

training and experience. The current home study process, SAFE, provides for additional review

and scrutiny of applicants. Currently, a review of criminal records is required of all foster

parents and foster parent applicants. In addition, current policy and procedure enables CYFD to

request additional evaluation and testing to assess an applicant’s suitability for fostering,

including drug testing.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

Given the complexity of the assessment conducted for a foster home applicant and the limitations

of drug testing, it is not believed that the bill will improve CYFD performance measure

outcomes.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

This bill does not address the administrative impact for CYFD to provide and arrange drug

testing for all foster parents and persons applying to be foster parents. In addition to the cost of

the drug testing, CYFD would also be impacted by the administrative resources need to revise all

related regulations and to monitor the private child placement agencies for compliance to the

new rules.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The new material in 40-7A—4 LICENSING—REGUALTIONS—APPLICATION FOR

LICENSE, Section A lines 11 through 13 on page 3 in inserts language requiring drug testing on

foster home applicants and those seeking renewal of the foster home license in a section of the

Act that pertains to the licensing of Child Placement Agencies, not individual foster homes.

There should be debate over the scope of the word “reasonable" on page 2, Section 40-7A-3(E).

Does the Department determine what is reasonable. Does the Division determine what is

reasonable.

Senate Bill 179 – Page

3

ALTERNATIVES

Instead of drug testing all applicants, the bill could narrow the population and only drug test

those who are final candidates to receive a license.

The bill could disqualify an applicant if that person or any adult residing in that person's

household was convicted of any drug-related crime during the five years preceding the

application.

DL/mt