HJM 4 — CHILDREN RUNNING AWAY FROM FOSTER HOMES

HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL 4 56TH LEGISLATURE - STATE OF NEWMEXICONEW MEXICO - FIRST SESSIONSESSION, 2023 INTRODUCED BY Stefani Lord 6This 8document 10may Aincorporate JOINTamendments MEMORIALproposed REQUESTINGby THEa SECRETARYcommittee, OFbut CHILDREN,not YOUTHyet ANDadopted, FAMILIESas TOwell CONVENEas Aamendments TASKthat FORCEhave TObeen ADDRESSadopted THEduring ONGOINGthe PROBLEMcurrent OFlegislative CHILDRENsession. RUNNING AWAY FROM FOSTER HOME PLACEMENT.

15The WHEREAS,document throughoutis thea Unitedtool States,to anshow estimatedamendments fifty-in fivecontext childrenand willcannot disappearbe todayused fromfor the fosterpurpose careof system;adding amendments to legislation.

eh tA 17JOINT andMEMORIAL wg lo nt dhr 18REQUESTING WHEREAS,THE inSECRETARY theOF pastCHILDREN, twentyYOUTH years,AND moreFAMILIES thanTO oneg hundrede =i =k 19CONVENE aA lTASK thousandFORCE casesTO involvingADDRESS missingTHE fosterONGOING childrenPROBLEM inOF theCHILDREN Unitedh i a e r 20i Statess wereRUNNING closedAWAY beforeFROM theFOSTER childrenHOME werePLACEMENT. located;

andh a, tt, me mu 21g WHEREAS,e accordingb tol thee children,e youthh andWHEREAS, familiesthroughout dthe rUnited eStates, 22an department,estimated asfifty- ofn Januaryd 1,d 2023,i there= were= thirtyo childrenh cfive echildren swill kdisappear 23today missingfrom after placement by the department'sfoster protectivecare servicessystem; e a n b 24 u [ division;

andl WHEREAS,] inb New,d Mexico,i accordinga toº thee children, youth .223712.2 and familiesr department,i in= 2022,r ninet childrene inw fosterd carem turneda eighteenn yearso ofWHEREAS, agein while on runaway status, thus aging out of foster care and losing the safetypast andtwenty protectionyears, ofmore thethan departmentone chargedhundred withd protectingm them;:

b e d s º o t n = .223712.2AIC March 16, 2023 (4:34pm) s k m e e a n e d r e l u [ A d thousand cases involving missing foster children in the United States were closed before the children were located;

and WHEREAS, according to the children, youth and families department, as of January 1, 2023, there were thirty children missing after placement by the department's protective services division;

and WHEREAS, in New Mexico, according to the children, youth and families department, in 2022, nine children in foster care turned eighteen years of age while on runaway status, thus aging out of foster care and losing the safety and protection of the department charged with protecting them;

and WHEREAS, human traffickers know that children without h stable families are easy prey, and research overwhelmingly u » r shows that most sexually trafficked children are from foster t h g e l i care;

and h r i s WHEREAS, children in foster care and out-of-home placement h , e h constitute most of the sexually trafficked children in the t u g e b l e e , gh United States;

and n d d i = = o h WHEREAS, children removed from sex trafficking report that el t] 17b ,d i a º r they are given a quota of up to fifteen buyers per night, we lr n= t e w d 18m a n o perhaps resulting in sex-trafficking victims being raped =d =m 19: a l thousands of times a year;

andb ir a e rt 20º WHEREAS,o missingt fostern children= often.223712.2AIC remainMarch missing16, and2023 a(4:34pm) ts mk m 21e potentially- sexually2 trafficked- becausee therea aren noe involved d r e 22l familiesu to[ leadA ad searchthousands and law enforcement authorities are c e s k 23 hindered by laws that prevent transparency about the details of etimes a nyear; b 24 a missing child's identity;

and uWHEREAS, [missing WHEREAS,foster children often remain missing and potentially sexually trafficked because there are no stateinvolved orfamilies nationwideto protocolslead fora .223712.2search -and 2law -enforcement preventingauthorities theare disappearancehindered ofby fosterlaws childrenthat orprevent fortransparency about the searchdetails and recovery of a missing fosterchild's children;identity;

and WHEREAS, there are no state or nationwide protocols for preventing the disappearance of foster children or for the search and recovery of missing foster children;

and WHEREAS, New Mexico should make every effort to keep foster children safe and spare no effort to locate a child h missing from foster care;

u » r NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE t h g e l i STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the secretary of children, youth and h r i s families be requested to convene a child protective services h , e h task force to make recommendations to the children, youth and t u g e b l e e , gh families department on how to prevent children from running n d d i = = o h away from foster care and develop an effective strategy to el t] 17b ,d i a º r recover children missing from foster care;

and we lr n= t e w d 18m a n o BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the child protective services =d =m 19: a l task force be requested to:

ib r e t º o t n = .223712.2AIC March 16, 2023 (4:34pm) s k m e - 3 - e a n e d r 20e A.l u [ A d task force be requested to:

analyzeA. data related to children who have run a t m m 21 away from foster care;

danalyze rdata erelated 22to B.children who have run away from foster care;

analyzeB. the root causes of why children run away c e s k 23 from foster care;

eanalyze athe nroot bcauses 24of C.why children run away from foster care;

identifyC. and analyze behaviors that contribute u [ to children running away from foster care;

.223712.2identify -and 3analyze -behaviors D.that contribute to children running away from foster care;

D.

and h BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the secretary of children, g o t hr youth and families be requested to include the following as g e i k members of the child protective services task force:

h r i s A.

a representative of the office of the attorney h , t, general;

e u g e b l e e h B.

a representative of the federal bureau of n d d i = = o h investigation;

el t] 17b ,d i a º e C.

a representative of the homeland security and wr li n= r t e w d 18m a n o emergency management department;

=d =m 19: a l D.

ab representativee ofd thes universityº ofo Newt Mexicon i= .223712.2AIC March 16, 2023 (4:34pm) s k m e - 4 - e a n e d r 20e officel foru community[ health;A d D.

a trepresentative mof mthe 21university E.of New Mexico office for community health;

twoE. individuals with experience living in foster d r e 22 care;

ctwo eindividuals swith kexperience 23living F.in foster care;

anF. individual with experience living in a youth e a n b 24 homeless shelter;

uan [individual G.with experience living in a youth homeless shelter;

G.