Earlier this month, KUNM invited two NMCAN Youth Leaders, Alyssa Davis and Micaela Baca, to be interviewed on Let’s Talk New Mexico to speak about their experience aging out of foster care, the policies they have helped pass, and the policy changes they believe need to be made. Alongside Alyssa and Micaela, our Director of Policy and Advocacy, Arika Sánchez, and other stakeholders in the foster care system also spoke about the much needed reforms to implement community-centered policies that keep children safely with their families whenever possible and ensure young people who are impacted by foster care successfully transition to adulthood.

Great job Alyssa and Micaela!

You can listen to the interview here. It is encouraging to hear representatives from CYFD talk about being careful to only remove children when it is absolutely necessary, keep them with their families as often as possible, and really listen to young people currently in foster care. However, we know this is not the reality we hear from the young people we work with yet, and we will continue to advocate for these much needed systemic changes that reduce poverty, address institutional racism, and improve outcomes for children and families in New Mexico.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our foster care videos and other news articles featuring young people to learn more about their advocacy work.