How my series on New Mexico's child welfare crisis overcame sourcing challenges

Child welfare systems are designed to investigate reports of abuse and neglect, while also providing services that encourage child well-being. But these agencies are facing huge challenges.

Nationwide, systems are overwhelmed, with over 3,000,000 children having contact with their local child welfare agencies in 2023. These experiences are no different in New Mexico, a state that consistently ranks at or near the bottom when it comes to overall child well-being.

Albuquerque is my home, and through my life there has been a multitude of horrific cases of child abuse, often those resulting in death, with the resulting media stories causing outrage. Yet not many journalists have explained how the state reached a place where low rankings, struggling families, and child abuse and neglect came to be commonplace.

It was important to me to begin by looking back to figure out how a culmination of events have culminated in the challenges New Mexico’s child welfare system is experiencing now, and how the state can move forward.

By looking at this history it was able to take listeners on a journey leading up to the main focus of my project, the Kevin S. settlement agreement. The settlement reached in 2020 came from a lawsuit that alleged the state was not meeting foster youth’s physical and mental health needs, and not placing youth in appropriate housing placements. It’s now been five years since the agreement and progress has stalled, leaving foster youth stuck in untenable conditions.

My main question: How does a system build better when the original foundation was never laid out?

The first two stories in my series focused on the history of child welfare in New Mexico, how the current Children, Youth, and Families Department was created, and tracking the litany of scandals the agency has incurred over the years. I had to get creative to create a narrative piece that would hook listeners into caring about events taking place over 50 years ago. I began the stories with the profiles of the plaintiffs of the case. I chose four foster children out of the original 14 who had come forward and made sure to include who they were as people and what their interests were before detailing their experiences with the care they received from the state. My goal was to hear from foster youth themselves, but as several interviews fell through, I had to rely on strengthening those relationships with their lawyers, which they had appreciated since they communicated with me that sometimes reporters can overstep with their clients by asking for direct contact information. So, even though the voices of the foster kids were not included, I was able to still include some insights about who they are and their experiences within the systems by having their lawyers talk about their clients. I also relied on former lawmakers who were also former social workers for the department to inform what it was like at the beginning of the agency’s creation and why they would later become lawmakers that focused their legislation efforts on reforming the system.

In order to connect with the plaintiff’s team, whether it was the lawyers representing the foster children or those on the advocacy side of the implementation efforts for the Kevin S. settlement, I needed to build trust. Those working in child welfare are often incredibly passionate about protecting kids and advocating for these youth who often have been lost in a system. I had connected several times with different members of the plaintiff’s team via phone and Zoom and even sending over my project proposal to make my intentions clear but also demonstrating that I was willing to be flexible in order to tell a story that did not feel as if I would be helicoptering in and leave once I got what I needed.

For the final part of the series, I set out to answer the question of what comes next for child welfare in New Mexico. My original plan was to include the voice of Carmen, a foster kid who was experiencing many of the challenges that the original agreement was supposed to address. Unfortunately, she is still without a personal cell phone and couldn’t participate in the story as planned. Again, I chose her plaintiff’s profile, which was included in the filing of the arbitration, that described who Carmen is, what her interests are, and her experiences as she has gone through the child welfare system, this way her story would still be included. To get sound for the story, I had her lawyer speak on her behalf concerning Carmen’s reactions and frustrations with the progress of her treatment by the state.

For stories about child welfare, it’s important to humanize the children and families who come into contact with the state. It is also important to recognize that many current and former foster kids have immense trauma and an inherent distrust of everyone around them. This is why it is essential to build relationships with the lawyers that represent them. In some cases, it’s the only way to tell their stories.