SANTA FE – Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday announced the retirement of Children, Youth, and Families Department Secretary Teresa Casados from state government following years of dedicated service to New Mexicans.

Casados has served as CYFD secretary since January 2024 and previously served as the department’s interim secretary from May 2023 until her confirmation as secretary by the New Mexico Senate in January 2024. Before leading CYFD, Casados served as chief operating officer in the Governor’s Office from January 2019 to November 2023.

“Teresa has been a trusted partner and valued leader since the start of my administration,” Governor Lujan Grisham said. “She stepped up to help manage our pandemic response and helped create the Early Childhood Education and Care Department. It’s fitting that she took on one of the toughest jobs in state government at CYFD in the last phase of her career in public service. I am forever grateful to Teresa for hard work and dedication to the people of New Mexico. I wish her all the best in her retirement.”

Casados’ final day as secretary is today. The governor has designated CYFD Deputy Secretary Valerie Sandoval as acting secretary of the department.

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to work alongside families across New Mexico during my tenure at CYFD,” Casados said. “The dedicated employees at CYFD do their challenging and important work with compassion and heart, and I hope they are given every opportunity to show what they are capable of accomplishing in the months and years ahead. While there is always more work to do, I am confident that the foundation we have built will continue to serve New Mexico’s children and families well into the future.”

During her tenure as CYFD secretary, Casados led a comprehensive transformation of the agency, implementing reforms and achieving significant milestones. They include:

• Reorganizing CYFD around four core pillars: Family Services, Juvenile Justice, Behavioral Health and Protective Services, supported by five foundational principles.
• Creating the Family Services Division as the agency’s “front door,” focusing on preventive and proactive
• resources for families.
  Ending the use of Social Security benefits belonging to children in state care.
• Conducting rapid hiring events that brought in more than 280 new employees.
• Launching digital initiatives including a public transparency dashboard (TogetherwethriveNM.org), user-focused website (cyfd.nm.gov), and internal communications system to improve access to services and information.
• Implementing new recruitment strategies using advertising increasing digital engagement and inquiry/applications exponentially for both resource/foster families and staff recruitment efforts.
  Developing the Foster Care+ program to provide quality foster care solutions for children and youth with high acuities.
• Establishing the Office of Advocacy to provide information, support, advocacy, and problem-solving for children, families, resource/foster parents, staff, and other constituents.

As chief operating officer, Casados was instrumental in operationalizing the Governor’s vision and priorities, including:

• Leading the development and implementation of New Mexico’s comprehensive COVID-19 response, recognized as one of the most successful in the nation.
• Coordinating disaster relief efforts for wildfires across the state.
• Spearheading the creation of the Early Childhood Education and Care Department, the first of its kind in the nation.

Casados brought extensive government experience to her roles, having previously served as deputy secretary of the Department of Workforce Solutions under former Governor Bill Richardson, where she oversaw workforce services, labor relations, business services, and economic research and analysis. She also served as deputy chief of staff to Richardson from 2008 to 2009, managing operations, human resources, and personnel functions in the Governor’s Office.