New Mexico dashboard reveals 56 missing children in state custody
A 2025 law requires New Mexico's Children, Youth, and Families Department to publish data, showing 56 children in foster care are unaccounted for.
The state legislature enacted a law in 2025 mandating a public dashboard for the Children, Youth, and Families Department. Among the disclosed metrics is the count of children who have run away while under state custody. The latest figures indicate that 56 children placed in foster care are currently missing. The article questions how these children vanished and why the responsible agency is failing to protect them.
Why it matters
It shows a significant gap in child welfare oversight, affecting vulnerable children and public trust.
In this story
dashboardfoster caremissing childrenstate custodychild welfarelegislationoversight
