Here’s What Can Happen When Kids Age Out of Foster Care
Two teens aged out of New Mexico’s child welfare system last year. This photo essay shows how different their lives have become.
Local Reporting Network
Homeless Shelters Aren’t Equipped to Deal With New Mexico’s Most Troubled Foster Kids. Police See It for Themselves.
New Mexico places foster teens with serious mental health conditions in shelters that don’t offer psychiatric services. When a crisis erupts, they call 911. “This happens all the time,” said one officer.
Local Reporting Network
Child Welfare Experts Say New Mexico Can’t Put Kids in Homeless Shelters Just Because It Lacks Other Beds
An experts’ report found that New Mexico’s child welfare system has housed foster kids in homeless shelters and other inappropriate settings, corroborating an investigation by ProPublica and Searchlight New Mexico.
Local Reporting Network
New Mexico Struggles to Follow Through on Promises to Reform Child Welfare System
Two and a half years after the state committed to reduce its reliance on emergency placements, it continues to leave some of its most troubled teens without the mental health services they need.
Local Reporting Network
These Foster Kids Need Mental Health Care. New Mexico Is Putting Them in Homeless Shelters.
Youth crisis shelters aren’t set up to deal with foster youth who need intensive mental health treatment. When teens try to harm themselves or others, staff resort to calling 911.
Local Reporting Network