Changing the future for the next generation of New Mexicans

When most people think about corrections, they picture the negative caricatures and stereotypes portrayed in television and movies. The reality is far more complex — and hopeful.

Safety, security, and accountability are central to the New Mexico Corrections Department's mission — and the essence of our name. We’re not just holding people accountable but breaking the cycles that damage families and communities across generations.

The people in our care are parents, sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, and friends to someone. About 96 percent of incarcerated individuals in New Mexico will return to our communities. The question is, who they'll be when they do.

That question has guided the New Mexico Corrections Department’s deliberate shift toward rehabilitation, as a core part of our public safety mission, in recent years. When parents return home healthier, employable, stable, and better prepared for life outside of prison, children benefit. Families benefit. Communities benefit.

Our correctional officers, probation and parole officers, caseworkers, educators, clinicians, chaplains, and support staff carry out their duties with professionalism and humanity. They maintain safety while ensuring accountability, providing structure, demonstrating respect, and treating people with dignity, as they help them make positive changes in their lives.

Much of that work involves individuals with significant needs who often present significant risks, yet our staff remain committed to public safety and to the belief that people can improve their lives.

Through partnerships with colleges, universities, and our sister agencies, we have expanded educational opportunities across our prison system. We are on pace to break our own record for the number of high school equivalency diplomas earned for a fourth consecutive year, outperforming other adult learning institutions in New Mexico.

Our career and technical programs create pathways for people to return home with meaningful skills and the ability to earn a living wage. Inmates can now earn certifications in HVAC, welding, construction, electrical wiring, woodworking, dog training, heavy equipment operation, CDL, culinary arts, and other in-demand trades.

We also recognize that many in our system struggle with addiction, trauma, mental health challenges, and destructive patterns of thinking that can span generations. Through substance use disorder treatment, cognitive behavioral therapy, peer mentorship and other evidence-based programs, we are working to address the root causes that contribute to criminal behavior and family instability.

Some of our most meaningful work is focused on preserving the bond between parents and children. In one program, incarcerated parents can make audio recordings of themselves reading books to their children and send both the recording and the book home. Programs like these help maintain family connections, while supporting literacy.

The New Mexico Corrections Department also offers parenting classes that help mothers and fathers better understand communication, accountability, child development, and healthy relationships, so they can return home as more engaged and effective parents. In the community, we partner with organizations that provide safe housing for mothers and children, to support the transition from facility to community.

In 2018, New Mexico’s recidivism rate was more than 50 percent. Since that time, through investments supported by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Legislature, we’ve steadily created opportunities and changed the way we support and supervise people returning to our communities. As a result, we’ve seen steady year-over-year improvements in the number of people who avoid a return to prison and make a better life for themselves.

By continuing to invest in rehabilitation, directing resources toward those with the greatest needs, and concentrating heavily on repeat recidivists, we are making even more progress. We expect New Mexico to be among the nation's top-performing states for successful transitions from institutions back to communities, by the end of 2026.

The impact of this work extends far beyond prison walls or probation and parole offices.

Children are less likely to repeat cycles of incarceration when families are stable and parents successfully reintegrate into society. Communities are safer when fewer people return to crime. Taxpayers benefit when more people become productive members of the workforce and their communities.

Helping justice-involved parents succeed is not separate from public safety. It is public safety.

When we invest in rehabilitation, education, treatment, accountability, and opportunity, we build stronger families, safer communities, and a better future for the next generation of New Mexicans.

Alisha Tafoya Lucero is the Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Corrections Department.