By ED WILLIAMS
Searchlight New Mexico
Since last year, the department tasked with overseeing foster care and child welfare in New Mexico has been encrypting and routinely deleting its communications, making much of its work essentially untraceable.
The leadership of the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) has directed staff to use Signal, a secure communication app, and has set chats to automatically delete. In contrast to standard text messages or emails which could be accessed by attorneys, reporters and members of the public under the state’s open records laws messages sent via Signal are all but impossible to retrieve. Once deleted, virtually no trace of a Signal conversation remains, even on the company’s server.
Governor Vaccine Progress Means New Mexico Can Open Soon -
By Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday said she expects New Mexico to reopen completely by the end of June if the state reaches its goal of having at least 60% of residents fully vaccinated by then.
She made the announcement during a virtual briefing, proclaiming that the state was “conquering COVID.”
Lujan Grisham and state health officials said the state s pace of vaccinations has been as an overwhelming driver for the progress seen in recent months, with more than 60 people vaccinated for every new case of COVID-19 reported.
New Mexico AG reviewing practices of child welfare workers
April 28, 2021 GMT
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said Wednesday he is “highly concerned” about government employees potentially deleting public information after questions were raised about the communication practices of the state agency that oversees foster children, juvenile justice and child welfare.
Balderas confirmed in an email that his office is reviewing claims that the Children, Youth and Families Department has been encrypting and routinely deleting texts. The practice was first revealed in a report by Searchlight New Mexico, a nonprofit investigative journalism group.
Republican legislative leaders have asked for an investigation over transparency concerns. They and other critics said the practice could hamper investigations into how the agency cares for children or how other government employees conduct business amid a pandemic that has pushed more services and communic
COVID-19 by the numbers New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 181 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 196,997. The health department has designated 177,930 of those cases as recovered. Bernalillo County had 78 new cases, followed by San Juan County with 31. Both Sandoval and Santa Fe counties had eight cases. The state also announced 12 additional deaths; there have now been 4,039 fatalities. As of yesterday, 130 people were hospitalized with COVID-19. Currently, 57.2% of New Mexicans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 41.1% are fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 67.5% have had at least one dose and 46.2% are fully inoculated.
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