Dossier
state child welfare department
Coverage of state child welfare department in the Nexus archive.
- ‘Native children belong in Native communities’: tribes decry New Mexico drug-exposed newborn rule
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a directive requiring child welfare authorities to seek custody of newborns exposed to drugs or alcohol in utero. Native American groups criticized the policy, arguing it disregards tribal sovereignty and echoes historical practices of Indigenous child removal. Confusion arose among families and healthcare providers about how substances like methadone and fentanyl in medical treatments would be classified under the rule.