Recent efforts of state and local leaders working with juvenile 

justice advocates to reduce the number of youth who are 

incarcerated have yielded impressive results: the juvenile 

incarceration rate has been cut in half nationwide over the 

past decade. However, reducing recidivism for youth in the 

juvenile justice system has proven to be a challenge for many 

states. California, Arizona, and Texas, for example, report that 

approximately half of youth in the juvenile justice system who are 

released from state custody are reincarcerated within three years of 

release. An analysis of approximately 60,000 youth in Texas found 

that even after the state had increased spending on communitybased supervision and services by 68 percent, recidivism rates did 

not improve. 1

As is the case for many states, there are fewer youth in New Mexico’s 

juvenile justice system now than at any other time in the last decade, and 

the majority of those youth are supervised in their own communities, which 

research shows leads to better outcomes.

n The total number of youth with a delinquent referral 

declined by 51 percent from 2009 to 2016.2

n Between 2009 and 2016, the number of youth who received 

a disposition to probation declined by 55 percent.3

n The average daily population of youth in New Mexico’s 

Children, Youth & Families Department (CYFD) facilities 

declined by 12 percent between 2009 and 2016.4

Although fewer youth are coming into contact with New Mexico’s juvenile 

justice system, costs have increased substantially at all points in the system in 

recent years. New Mexico spends approximately $74 million annually on 

supervision and services for youth in the juvenile justice system.

n In 2015, spending on CYFD facilities was 30 percent higher 

than in 2008, when New Mexico reformed its juvenile 

facilities to shift the focus from confinement and punishment 

to rehabilitation and regionalization—an effort to keep youth 

who are in commitment closer to home.5

n The average cost per youth who receives services while on 

community supervision increased by 31 percent from 2013 to 

2015.6

n Grant expenditures* for the provision of community-based 

services to youth who are at risk of involvement or are 

currently in the juvenile justice system increased by 74 percent 

from 2013 to 2015.7

Despite investing significant resources for youth under juvenile justice system 

supervision and implementing policy and practice changes to improve outcomes 

for youth in facilities, New Mexico lacks a comprehensive picture of recidivism 

rates and other youth outcomes, and is unable to definitively determine whether 

its investments are having a positive impact. 

n New Mexico statutes and regulations do not require the 

state to conduct quality assurance reviews or monitor secure 

facilities beyond mandating self-inspections of the physical 

facility. 

n Current recidivism analyses in New Mexico do not account 

for probation violations or entry into the adult criminal 

justice system for youth on probation, and recidivism is not 

calculated by youth characteristics—such as age, race, offense, 

or risk level—or by program participation. 

n The state and its counties lack the capacity and infrastructure 

to oversee community-based services for youth in the 

juvenile justice system, and do not consistently collect or track 

outcome data to determine their effectiveness.

As a result, policymakers, judges, and public agencies are unable to 

determine whether New Mexico is using state resources effectively 

to strengthen public safety and help youth who are in the juvenile 

justice system transition to a crime-free, productive adulthood. 

Following a national competitive process, the U.S. Department of Justice’s 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and The 

Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center selected New Mexico to 

receive technical assistance to assess its juvenile justice system and help the state 

adopt and implement policy changes to improve outcomes for youth under system 

supervision. 

In November 2015, the CSG Justice Center hosted a 50-state 

forum focused on improving outcomes for youth in the juvenile 

justice system. At the forum, OJJDP charged the CSG Justice 

Center with providing technical assistance to help states adopt 

statewide strategies to improve outcomes for youth in the juvenile 

justice system. New Mexico—through the leadership of CYFD, 

Supreme Court Justice Barbara Vigil, Representative Gail Chasey, 

and former Speaker of the Assembly Don Tripp—requested 

support from the CSG Justice Center through participation in 

Improving Outcomes for Youth (IOYouth): A Statewide Juvenile 

Justice Initiative. IOYouth is designed to guide states in adopting 

a more cost-effective, comprehensive set of statewide strategies 

based on the latest available research on “what works” to reduce 

recidivism and improve other outcomes for youth in the juvenile 

justice system. 

Improving Outcomes for Youth in New Mexico

A Statewide Juvenile Justice Initiative

APRIL 2017

* “Grant expenditures” refer to funding awarded to local Juvenile Justice Continuum Boards by the state’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee. Twenty regional Juvenile Justice 

Continuum Boards have been developed in communities across New Mexico to address the goals of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee.
In January 2017, Governor Susana Martinez issued a memo to CYFD 

Secretary Monique Jacobson expressing her support for IOYouth and providing 

for the establishment of a Statewide Juvenile Justice Improvement Committee, 

with the goal of learning more about the performance of New Mexico’s juvenile 

justice system and what steps can be taken to strengthen public safety and 

improve outcomes for youth.

The Statewide Juvenile Justice Improvement Committee consists 

of representatives from the three branches of government along 

with state, local, and tribal juvenile justice and other system 

leaders. The committee, co-chaired by Secretary Jacobson and 

Justice Vigil, oversees the initiative in New Mexico. Under this 

committee’s direction, the CSG Justice Center will conduct 

an extensive analysis of New Mexico’s juvenile justice policies, 

practices, and resource allocation. The CSG Justice Center will 

also convene focus groups and conduct interviews with system 

leaders, policymakers, and practitioners across the state to 

learn more about system challenges and identify priorities for 

improvement.

Key priorities for system assessment include determining whether 

youth are matched to the most appropriate supervision and 

services; the services that youth receive in the community, through 

New Mexico’s Juvenile Community Corrections program, and in 

reintegration centers are research based and effective; resources 

are allocated efficiently across the system; the services that youth 

receive in CYFD facilities are effective and adhere to the research 

on what works to improve outcomes; and data on youth outcomes 

are tracked and used to guide policy and funding decisions. Based 

on findings from the analysis of these and other issues identified 

by New Mexico leaders as impacting outcomes for youth, the CSG 

Justice Center will work with the committee to develop policy 

options for consideration in the 2018 legislative session to address 

New Mexico’s key juvenile justice challenges. 

The Approach for the Improving Outcomes for 

Youth Initiative 

Step 1: Analyze quantitative data 

Under the direction of the Statewide Juvenile Justice Improvement Committee, 

the CSG Justice Center will conduct an extensive analysis, based on data 

availability, of referral, intake, diversion, detention, disposition, informal 

and formal probation, CYFD commitments, reintegration centers, as well 

as programs, services, recidivism, and other outcome data, to establish a 

comprehensive picture of statewide juvenile justice trends.

Step 2: Review policy and practice

To complement the data analysis, CSG Justice Center staff will facilitate 

focus groups and interviews with key constituents across the state to garner 

their perspective and recommendations on system challenges and strategies for 

improvement. Structured discussions will take place with staff working on 

the front lines of New Mexico’s juvenile justice system, including prosecutors, 

defense attorneys, judges, law-enforcement executives, probation and facility 

staff, community-based providers, and CYFD staff. Further, the CSG 

Justice Center will review state regulations and agency policies to examine 

the extent to which New Mexico’s juvenile justice policies, practices, and 

resource allocation align with what the research shows is effective in improving 

outcomes for youth. Key findings from the data analysis and focus-group 

discussions will be presented to committee members.

Step 3: Present system-improvement recommendations 

and adopt new policies 

In collaboration with CSG Justice Center staff, the Statewide Juvenile 

Justice Improvement Committee will review the key findings of the data 

analysis and focus groups to develop policy options focused on using resources 

more efficiently to reduce recidivism and improve other outcomes for youth 

in New Mexico’s juvenile justice system. Subsequently, CSG Justice Center 

staff will support New Mexico state leaders to formalize and enact these 

recommendations through legislation and appropriation changes, and will 

continue to work with the state to support implementation of new provisions.

1. Tony Fabelo et al., Closer to Home: An Analysis of the State and Local Impact of the Texas Juvenile Justice Reforms (New York: The Council of State Governments Justice 

Center, 2015).

2. State of New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department, New Mexico Juvenile Justice Services Fiscal Year 2016 Annual Report (Santa Fe, New Mexico: State of 

New Mexico Children, Youth & Families Department, 2015), https://cyfd.org/docs/FY16_JJSAnnualReport.pdf.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. State of New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee Program Evaluation Unit, Program Evaluation: Effectiveness of Juvenile Justice Facilities and Community-Based 

Services (Santa Fe, New Mexico: State of New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee, 2016), https://www.nmlegis.gov/Entity/LFC/Documents/Program_

Evaluation_Reports/Program%20Evaluation%20-%20%20Effectiveness%20of%20Juvenile%20Justice%20Facilities%20and%20Community-Based%20

Services.pdf.

6. Ibid.

7. “Sunshine Portal NM: The Official Government Transparency Portal of New Mexico,” accessed April 4, 2017, http://www.sunshineportalnm.com/.

Improving Outcomes for Youth (IOYouth): A Statewide Juvenile Justice Initiative is a project of The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, 

conducted in partnership with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The CSG Justice Center is a national nonprofit organization that 

serves policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government. Staff provides practical, nonpartisan, research-driven strategies 

and tools to increase public safety and strengthen communities.