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New Mexico's Kinship Guardianship Program

New Mexico’s Kinship Guardianship Program

New Mexico’s Kinship Guardianship Program provides a team of navigators to link grandparents and other relatives raising children to the resources they need for all to thrive.

YES New Mexico

Your portal to quickly and easily apply, check, update, or renew for a variety of public assistance programs, such as Medicaid, SNAP, LIHWAP, TANF, and LIHEAP. Visit the YES New Mexico website at yes.state.nm.us

What is the Kinship Guardianship Program?

This collaborative effort among CYFD, Fostering Family, our legal partners, and SHARE New Mexico provides:

A coordinated and comprehensive array of FREE services and guidance for kinship caregivers anywhere in New Mexico, including training and support groups for family caretakers and service providers
SHARE New Mexico’s statewide, online, searchable resource directory to help find a wide range of resources for families and service providers
The New Mexico Guardianshp Legal Helpline, 505-217-1660, tollfree 1-833-355-6944; information fliers are available in English, Spanish and Navajo, ready for distribution

View a presentation which briefly explains the program.

Fostering Family

Fostering Family, a program of Southwest Family Guidance Center and Institute in collaboration with CYFD, provides a coordinated and comprehensive array of services for kinship caregivers anywhere in New Mexico, including training and support groups for family caretakers and service providers. The goals of the program are to increase family stability, keep children connected to family and culture, and reduce the long-term effects of childhood trauma.

FREE SERVICES: If you are raising a child/children of another family member of friend outside the traditional foster care system, you can request free services here. You do not need to be a relative or have legal guardianship to qualify. Download the program flyer. Information is also available in Spanish and Navajo.

Kinship Legal Services

Kinship Legal Services. Kinship caregivers statewide could be eligible for legal assistance from three agencies under contract to CYFD: New Mexico Legal Aid, and Pegasus Legal Services for Children, support to tribal families.

Kinship Caregiver Legal Guide. New Mexico Legal Aid, Inc., has published a manual designed to provide kinship caregivers with the tools necessary to establish a legal relationship with the child(ren) in care. The guide in written with specific reference to the laws of the State of New Mexico. You can download the guide here.
Kinship Guardianship Legal Documents Packet is available here.

25% of grandparent-headed households with no parent present experienced food insecurity, more than twice the national rate.

The 2022 State of Grand-families Report, Together at the Table, includes the latest findings on grand-families facing high rates of hunger and food insecurity, as well as policy recommendation to help feed grand-families.

Read the report to explore the data and learn why we need to change current policies to ensure access to adequate nutritious food for grandparents.

Read the report here