Searchlight New Mexico and ProPublica

Nowhere to go

Starting in 2018, New Mexico started closing its residential treatment centers for adolescents, who were supposed to be moved to foster care and supported by improved health facilities. Only the first half of that happened, and troubled teens ended up in homeless shelters. “Nowhere to go” directly influenced bills in New Mexico’s legislative session that would increase reporting for the state’s Children, Youth and Family Department, create a task force for runaway foster youth and create an Office of Children’s Rights. The governor vetoed the bills, but issued an executive order to reform the child welfare department.