More Juveniles Detained in New Mexico are Receiving GEDs

Report for America|

The state agency charged with ensuring children’s welfare has been beset by chronic failure and is often only in the news when something negative happens. For the story, corps member Esteban Candelaria aimed to tell one of the often underreported success stories of juveniles in the system breaking the cycle of poverty and crime.

Graduates in their caps and gowns wait in line during a graduation ceremony at the Youth Development and Diagnostic Center in Albuquerque on May 15. The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department boasted an 81% graduation rate among juveniles being held in its detention facilities this fiscal year. (Photo courtesy Children, Youth and Families Department)

He reported on a GED program at the New Mexico Department of Children, Youth and Families that has recently seen the highest graduation rate in the past five years. Esteban’s reporting offered insight into two juveniles’ pasts and the circumstances that led to crime, including family substance abuse and struggles with mental illness. These interviews work to show the full personhood of juveniles in detention rather than defining them by the crimes they have committed.

Esteban Candelaria is a Report For America corps member covering child welfare for the Santa Fe New Mexican in Santa Fe, New Mexico.