Feb. 8—Voters are unlikely to decide this year whether the state’s troubled child welfare agency should be removed from the executive branch and placed under the oversight of an independent commission.

The proposed constitutional amendment “is basically dead at this point,” Sen. Jerry Ortiz y Pino, an Albuquerque Democrat who is the lead sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 6, said Thursday. The Senate Judiciary Committee was originally scheduled to hear his measure Wednesday but pushed it off.

“I think the governor’s opposition just scared away all possible proponents,” Ortiz y Pino said.

Ortiz y Pino, who spent much of his career working at what is now called the Children, Youth and Families Department, said he is “totally skeptical” the agency will improve.

“We’ve got a secretary who has no background in this field running a department that can’t attract professionals because they work for a secretary who has no background,” he said, referring to Teresa Casados, who previously served as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham‘s chief operating officer.

“This notion that, ‘Well, we’ve rearranged the chairs on the deck, the ship won’t sink.’ The ship is sinking,” Ortiz y Pino said. “It’s below water now, and rearranging the deck chairs the way they’ve done is just not going to cut it. There’s no vision there. There’s no bold initiatives. This was an attempt at salvaging it.”

Casados told the committee Wednesday night the department opposed removing CYFD from the Cabinet and creating a commission structure.

“I believe this structure would create barriers to consistent and effective collaboration with other state agencies and our 23 tribes, pueblos and nations,” she said. “New Mexico has established a strong cradle-to-career approach that is nationally recognized. The collaboration through this network is already helping to build a stronger child welfare system, and it’s critical that this effective collaboration continue.”

Casados said the “silo” created by the proposed commission would fragment the work being done to support New Mexico families and children.

“There is currently no other state that has this structure, and the few who have tried this did not see success and have reverted back,” she said.

Casados stepped in as acting director of the department in April after the resignation of Barbara Vigil. Casados was confirmed by the Senate as Cabinet secretary in a 32-8 vote a week ago. The agency has come under criticism from lawmakers concerned about its backlog of cases, high staff vacancy rates and how these affect the children under its care.

Ortiz y Pino, who isn’t seeking reelection, said he wished the department — and the vulnerable population it serves — well.

“I hope [Casados] can really find way to prevent kids from dying, prevent kids from sleeping in offices,” he said.

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.