child welfare

We’ll reflect on the end of the 2025 legislative session by talking with journalists who followed all 60 days at the Roundhouse.

An estimated 40,000 New Mexico children were raised by grandparents or a relative besides their parents in 2024, according to the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department. A bill in the legislature would create a pilot program to assist these kinship caregivers.

The state of New Mexico was served with a class action lawsuit in 2018 by 14 foster children and two advocacy organizations to better the child welfare system. The parties reached a settlement agreement in 2020 which is now known by the name of one of the plaintiffs, Kevin S. KUNM explores how the suit began and how it has progressed over the last six years in the third part of a series.

The Children, Youth, and Families Department has come under fire for having kids sleeping in the agency’s offices due to a lack of foster care placements. KUNM spoke with Secretary Teresa Casados on how CYFD plans to address this issue through its Foster Care+ program and her hopes for the current legislative session.

Children, Youth, and Families Department Sec. Teresa Casados told lawmakers Tuesday that, while the department is improving, it needs more funding to make real progress.

Once again New Mexico is in last place nationwide for child well-being. That’s according to the annual Kids Count Data Book. KUNM spoke to the local nonprofit that releases the data with the Annie E. Casey Foundation about whether the 2022 numbers reflect where New Mexico is today.

KUNM Call In Show 4/28 8a: Children who experience abuse and neglect can face lifelong challenges. In New Mexico, reports of child maltreatment have…

More than 1,000 additional New Mexico children could receive government-funded child-care assistance if their parents or guardians ask for it.The state’s…

(Click here to access the interactive map of vaccine rates)Newly released figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show New Mexico…

A new evaluation says New Mexico's embattled child welfare agency has been slow to set up home visiting services two years after winning a federal…