NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Since Alexis Avila was arrested for throwing her baby in a dumpster last week, there has been a flood of people who have come forward to say they would like to adopt the baby boy. The New Mexico Child, Youth & Families Department says it isn’t that simple as saying you would want to adopt the baby.
CYFD says even though the situation is tragic, the infant cannot be adopted yet because the family will be first on that list. “We have received a huge number of calls for families who are interested in this child,” said Anthony Beltran, acting bureau chief for the Placement and Adoption Bureau for CYFD.
Related coverage
- Officers take stand in hearing of teen accused of throwing newborn in dumpster
- ‘We just found a baby in the trash’: Hobbs teen faces attempted murder charges
- Hobbs woman arrested after allegedly dumping newborn in dumpster
CYFD wants the public to know what the process is for adopting a child. “We want to you know locate relatives, we want to make those efforts to reunify the children or youth with their families,” Beltran said.
Many are asking what will happen to the infant now and how they can adopt him. The short answer — you can’t. “If a family is interested in adopting a child, who’s in CYFD custody, they would ultimately need to foster that child first,” Beltran said.
The process to even foster a child takes up to 120 days and there are more than 2,300 kids in foster care. A family member can foster the infant first but still has to go through the foster licensing step.
“I would say from the beginning — the application through, the hopefully approval or conclusion of the home study it can take about four months,” said Sharon Allcorn, executive director of the Adoption Assistance Agency.
The adoption process in New Mexico can take up to a year. So many kids in New Mexico are looking for a loving home. “You know people think, I want to rescue a baby, I want to get that baby but honestly right now there are so many children 3, 4, 5, 10-year-olds — the average age is eight who are waiting for a family,” Allcorn said.
CYFD would only say that the infant boy is still in their care but would not say if he is still in the hospital. For more information on how to be a foster parent, visit cyfd.org/foster-care. For more information on adoption, visit adoptionassistance.org.
