The head of New Mexico’s child support enforcement agency has called for the state to stop intercepting child support payments directed to poor families, following a ProPublica investigation this fall stating the state claimed the funds as a repayment to the government for welfare received in the past. 

In a recent report, acting director of the New Mexico Child Support Enforcement Division Betina McCracken told Source NM the organization is focused on the kids. 

“We want them to grow up healthy and happy and just get to be kids. Making sure we get as much money to families as we can so that children are financially supported is half that battle,” McCracken said.

The ProPublica investigation from September this year on New Mexico’s rules for obtaining welfare found that mothers had been required to tell the state who their children’s biological fathers are and the exact date they had become pregnant in order to receive money from the government. 

This practice had been met with widespread controversy, including the recent statement from the New Mexico Child Support Enforcement Division. In a Dec. 1 report by the Santa Fe New Mexican, McCracken and Deputy cabinet Secretary Kari Armijo expressed efforts to ensure that more of the money collected by the Child Support Enforcement Division goes to families and kids above all else.

While federal law requires those receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to “assign their rights” to child support, changes in the law now allow for states to distribute child support collections in a way that sends payments to families first, rather than back to the government, the report states. With these rules adopted in several states including Alaska, California, Pennsylvania, Vermont and West Virginia, new calls push for the same to be done in New Mexico. 

According to the report, as lawmakers debate next year’s budget, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has also voiced support toward policy changes on the issue, expressing a commitment to signing it into law.