The tragic death of another child in New Mexico has prompted a child advocate to blame the governor and the children’s safety agency that had been warned about the threat.
Vanessa Chavez was charged with child abuse resulting in death after her 18-month-old daughter was found unresponsive and died after 20 minutes of CPR, Albuquerque police said. The girl’s death is the sixth in only four months of incidents that involved the state’s Children, Youth & Families Department, according to KOB-TV.
New Mexico Child First Network founder Maralyn Beck said the death was preventable and places the blame squarely on the governor as well as the child safety agency.
“Every single one of these deaths was preventable,” Beck said to KOB.
She added: “This is on the governor. There is blood on the governor at this point.”
The child had been taken away from Chavez when she was born premature because the girl had been drug-exposed. KOB reports that the girl was returned to the parents for a trial period and died soon afterward.
“One call to child protective services in a functioning system should save the life of a child,” an emotional Beck said. “One single call. That’s a functioning system, and we don’t have that.”
KOB put the criticism to Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, and she said that it would be a priority for her office as she nears the end of her term but admitted that the agency had troubles.
“You’re chasing your tail, and we’ve been chasing our tail for decades,” she said.
When asked if she was going to make progress in the 18 months she has left, she responded, “We’re gonna make some damn important progress, yes sir.”
Hellbound and Down 