Department leadership then set many of those communications to automatically delete.
Searchlight also found that the Governor’s Office and the state Department of Information Technology supported the systematic deletion of messages, according to emails and policy guidance obtained through an Inspection of Public Records Act request.
Legal experts warn that it is likely to impede investigations into the agency, cripple the ability of attorneys to represent children in state custody, and could violate the state Public Records Act rules on retention of documents.
CYFD use of Signal is under investigation by the office of state Attorney General Hector Balderas, after an earlier Searchlight report detailing the agency’s routine deletion of encrypted messages. House Republicans asked Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to provide a report detailing “whether her office staff and/or cabinet level staff have been using data encryption and data dumping.”
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LAS CRUCES – A licensed professional clinical counselor based in Las Cruces was indicted Friday on multiple counts of Medicaid fraud, identity theft and other charges.
The grand jury indictment, filed in New Mexico s Third District Court, accuses Cathy Chidester of Drop In Counseling of submitting fraudulent Medicaid claims, including one count of Medicaid fraud over $20,000; three counts of fraud over $20,000 and another over $500; obstruction of investigation; and six counts of identity theft.
The New Mexico Attorney General s Office announced the indictment Monday, saying Chidester faces 15 felony charges for allegedly billing the program illegally between September 2017 between October 2019.
A spokesman for the Attorney General s Office said the alleged fraud amounts to more than $170,000.
By Ed Williams, Searchlight New Mexico |
5 hours ago
Don J. Usner/Searchlight New Mexico
Secretary Brian Blalock of the Children, Youth and Families Department in his office in Santa Fe in 2020.
The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department has fired two high-level employees who raised concerns about the agency’s practice of encrypting and summarily destroying records.
A Searchlight New Mexico investigation has found that over the past year, the CYFD used the secure text messaging app Signal to discuss a wide range of official business, including the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the care of children in state custody and concerns about private contractors. Department leadership then set many of those communications to automatically delete, rendering them forever inaccessible to attorneys, members of the public and journalists.
Ex-Labor Official Says Safety Threats Prompted Resignation - By Morgan Lee Associated Press The former leader of the state Workforce Solutions Department