Parents across New Mexico like Cecilia Sharbutt in Las Cruces have faced barriers in identifying their children’s mental/behavioral health conditions. But trying to get them the services they need has been just as challenging as the rollout of a statewide system of care falls behind.

Allyson Fernandez, a Vadito mother who deputies call a known drug dealer, is facing charges of child abuse in the apparent overdose death of her 6-year-old daughter. Fernandez had been the subject of seven CYFD investigations since 2020.

Artesia General Hospital, a 25-bed facility with clinics throughout southeastern New Mexico, is implementing AI technology into their workflows — and it's providing results. Dr. Peter Jewell, a family medicine physician at the facility, said AI has allowed him to focus more on his patients.

Plaintiffs in a landmark lawsuit that showed New Mexico failed to serve many of its disadvantaged students have asked a judge to let them take matters into their own hands. They say the state’s current plan to reform the education system fails to set a clear path forward.

A state judge has ordered Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's administration to respond to a lawsuit filed by Republican Duke Rodriguez that challenges the legality of New Mexico's free universal childcare program. The governor slammed Rodriguez in a statement posted on social media Tuesday evening.

The race to become New Mexico’s next governor has been fraught with eligibility questions, jabs over policy copycatting and misleading campaign advertisements. But candidates agree on one thing: New Mexico requires drastic change to improve outcomes for its most vulnerable children.

CYFD says it put a stop to kids sleeping in agency office buildings. Instead, it's been sending kids to live in youth homeless shelters — and refusing to pick them up when they're in danger.

Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the state Children, Youth and Families Department, alleging it used an overly broad reading of state statute in refusing to disclose key records during an investigation into systemic issues. searchlightnm.org/new-mexico-a...

A new lawsuit accuses a New Mexico child welfare investigator of tracking a 17-year-old runaway to El Paso, where he improperly took custody of her infant daughter and brought the child back to New Mexico.

The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department has yet to release a public dashboard that would report various child welfare metrics. Lawmakers last year ordered the department to create one.

In recent years, a handful of private, nonprofit treatment foster care agencies operating in New Mexico have received hundreds of referrals for youth whose needs are too severe. The vast majority of the cases have been rejected, with the denials posing a conundrum for CYFD.

New Mexico's Children, Youth and Families Department, where a high turnover rate for years has left workers with crushing caseloads, also has been plagued by allegations of threats, retaliation and bullying behavior, according to current and former employees. #cyfd #childwelfare #newmexico

New Mexico’s state auditor determined the Children, Youth and Families Department misused millions of dollars of a legislative appropriation meant to expand children’s behavioral health services, according to a letter to the Legislative Finance Committee last month.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs slashed New Mexico reimbursement rates for home health aide services by 19% between 2025 and 2026. Caregiving agencies, state officials and members of Congress say the cut will result in reduced access to care.

New Mexico made strong progress in its goals to reform its troubled foster care system last year and is ready to start work on another set of goals, the state and plaintiffs in a landmark child welfare lawsuit said Monday.

NEW: Western New Mexico University's new Board of Regents unanimously voted to void former President Joseph Shepard's $1.9 million severance and 5-year teaching contract Whether — or how — the school recovers that money remains to be seen.

@searchlightnm.bsky.social's Molly Montgomery did a great job on this story about the campaign to canonize Sister Blandina Segale, a nun who did a lot for New Mexico during its Wild West days. Whether you're a believer or skeptic, there's much to admire in her life. searchlightnm.org/new-mexico-c...

Today is the 80th anniversary of Trinity. At 1 P.M. Eastern, the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium will dedicate the first permanent public marker to the New Mexicans who died or were made ill by radioactive fallout that nobody told them was coming. searchlightnm.org/trinity-bomb...

Just over a month after the death of Jaydun Garcia at a CYFD facility, another teenager in foster care, 17-year-old Makamy Anderson, took her own life. searchlightnm.org/new-mexico-c...

A new lawsuit in the 2024 fatal police shooting of teenager Elijah Hadley could shed light on a persistent problem in New Mexico: an outsized portion of police violence begins with a welfare check

NEW: In a lawsuit quietly filed Friday, the NM State Ethics Commission accuses former WNMU President Joseph Shepard of misappropriating money meant for an ADA-compliant project and spending it instead on a patio for his daughter's wedding reception.

New at @searchlightnm.bsky.social: our own Molly Montgomery spoke with @mariahblake.bsky.social, author of “They Poisoned the World,” an important new book about the history and toxic legacy of “forever chemicals.” (Which were an outgrowth of the Manhattan Project.) searchlightnm.org/new-mexico-p...

New at @searchlightnm.bsky.social: During its lobbying campaign in the 2025 session, New Mexico Safety Over Profit demanded “corporate transparency” for hospitals. Now the State Ethics Commission is suing the dark money group for violating transparency laws. searchlightnm.org/new-mexico-s...

New at @searchlightnm.bsky.social: Fossil fuel revenues bankroll education spending in New Mexico, but schools exposed to industry pollution face environmental risks that can affect children’s health and performance. searchlightnm.org/new-mexico-s...

NEW: The oil & gas industry in New Mexico’s Permian Basin subjects workers to brutal conditions. Molly Montgomery takes an unforgettable look at the lives of men whose jobs lead to death, injury, disease and terrible tolls on mental health and family life. searchlightnm.org/new-mexico-p...

A new lawsuit alleges that Rio Arriba County officials violated the civil rights of two protestors by fostering an environment that let Ryan Martinez open fire into an anti-Oñate demonstration in Española in 2023

Meet our new colleague at @searchlightnm.bsky.social, a great young writer from Santa Fe, Molly Montgomery. searchlightnm.org/the-searchli...

Publicly, Western New Mexico University has simply said it’s “working through technical issues,” but employees’ computers are displaying threatening messages signed by a notorious group, Qilin, that claims to have access to employee Social Security numbers, driver’s licenses and more.

New at @searchlightnm.bsky.social: How did The MASTERS Program, a prominent charter school in Santa Fe, breeze through its renewal process with state officials amid allegations—including a lawsuit—citing serious problems with its performance and leadership? searchlightnm.org/masters-prog...

In the wake of reporting by @searchlightnm.bsky.social and other news organizations, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced today that the state is opening an investigation into the recent death of a teenage boy in New Mexico’s foster care system. searchlightnm.org/a-teenager-t...

For years, experts have warned CYFD that its practice of housing foster kids in group settings, without adequate mental health care, was putting kids in grave danger. Last weekend, a teenage boy died. searchlightnm.org/a-teenager-t...

A long-awaited archive detailing decades of clergy sex abuse in New Mexico has partially launched online through the University of New Mexico. Read through the detailed depositions of accused priests in their own words here: digitalrepository.unm.edu/cswr_asf_dep...

New at @searchlightnm.bsky.social: Meet Howard Hutchinson, an activist from SW New Mexico who’s organizing radical opposition to federal management of public lands. It's been quite a journey. As a young man, Hutchinson was a socialist and a supporter of Earth First! searchlightnm.org/howard-hutch...

Searchlight New Mexico wants to thank our colleagues at the Santa Fe Reporter for co-publishing our story on how the gruesome crime scene photos from the “In Cold Blood” murders are relevant to current debate over photos from the deaths of Gene and Betsy Hackman.

LAS CRUCES: Join Searchlight investigative reporter @cosmicbowling.bsky.social at @nmsu.edu at 3 p.m. today for a discussion on proposed changes to New Mexico’s public records law This event is free and open to the public. Details below:

Meet Searchlight New Mexico's new Executive Director: Rick Herrman, a veteran businessman with a wide range of experience in finance, philanthropy and fundraising. Read all about Herrman and what he brings to Searchlight here:

Tonight at 7 p.m.: Catch Searchlight reporter @cosmicbowling.bsky.social on New Mexico in Focus discussing his recent story on the Archdiocese of Santa Fe Tune in on TV at channel 5.1, or here on YouTube: m.youtube.com/@nminfocus/f...

Near the town of Grants, Homestake Mining Company milled uranium—millions of tons between '58-'90—to produce “yellowcake” used in nuclear weapons and reactors. Leftover slurry was piped into 2 unlined earthen pits—the largest the size of 50 football fields.

What the criminal conviction of a Las Cruces officer tells us about the broader state of police violence across New Mexico — and the nation.

Just before this year's legislative session, a secretive group emerged to fight against proposals to cap attorney's fees and other malpractice reforms. Who is New Mexico Safety Over Profit? searchlightnm.org/dark-money-f...

Come work with us! We're hiring an Executive Director who will help us carry out our mission and lead us to long-term sustainability by building back-office operations, expanding funding sources and growing our audience. If you believe in high-impact journalism, apply today. Details below:

Nuclear weapons and Los Alamos National Laboratory reporter Alicia Inez Guzmán is looking for information for a story she's reporting for The New York Times. Details in the link below — please help spread the word

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe maintains a list of priests who were “credibly accused” of having sexually abused children in a decades-long crime pattern that dates back at least to the 1950s. @searchlightnm.bsky.social found that it’s shorter than it should be — by a total of 59 names.

U.S. immigration agents racially profiled workers in Scottsdale, Arizona, questioning a Navajo woman about her U.S. citizenship. She spoke with @searchlightnm.bsky.social about how shocked she was by the encounter.

Following Trump’s inauguration, reports have emerged of ICE agents detaining tribal citizens. The news has stirred up confusion and fear throughout New Mexico and Arizona.

Don't miss Searchlight Investigative Reporter @cosmicbowling.bsky.social's interview with New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez about his lawsuit against former Western New Mexico University leaders on this week's "New Mexico in Focus." Watch here on YouTube, or tune in at 7 p.m. on channel 5.1.

If you’re wondering about nuclear weapons policy in Trump’s second term, Searchlight interviewed six experts on what the new administration could mean—for everything from Los Alamos National Laboratory to a possible return to underground testing.

Following reporting on Searchlight New Mexico, Attorney General Raúl Torrez announces a civil lawsuit against outgoing WNMU President Joseph Shepard and the Board of Regents searchlightnm.org/attorney-gen...

Outrage over the terms of Joseph Shepard’s lucrative separation package prompts a drive for a vote of no confidence in WNMU’s Board of Regents

One year after Searchlight first revealed the spending habits of executives at Western New Mexico University, university regents voted unanimously to terminate President Joseph Shepard's contract. Details here: