Press Release and Reflection Summary
Jessica Trujillo
September 4, 2013
CJA 304
Alison Pauk

Valencia County, NM-
In Valencia County a mother was arrested for the alleged abuse of her 11 moth old son. The mother was suspected of abusing her infant son due to his cracked skull.
The 11 month old male had severe head trauma and was taken to UNM Hospital by his family. The doctors at UNMH notified the Valencia county CYFD office because of the head trauma and the suspicious way the mother was acting.
The mother was explaining the incident in a manner that did not match the incident, therefore the doctors had to notified the Valencia County CYFD office because of suspicion of neglect and abuse.
On Thursday morning, CYFD officials said that there was a possible miscommunication between the mother and the doctors due to the language barriers. The hospital did not provide a translator to assist with this matter prior to contacting the Valencia County CYFD.
The incident was investigated more in depth and the CYFD detectives determined that the 11 months old cracked skull was an accident and the accusations were false.
The detectives were sent to the family’s home to look into the safety of the home and the environment. There are two other children living in the home, the detectives said the other boys appeared healthy and in good spirit.
The 11 month old boy was given back to his family, but CYFD in still investigating as to why and how the 11 month old boy was hurt. The family’s home is shown to be a safe environment for the boys to live and there are no concerns of the welfare of the children.
The state in still looking into the safety of the home and the case is still open for further and strict monitoring. This monitoring will last for the next 45 days.

Reflection Summary There was the mother of the infant as well as the family that was part of the group. Methods that were used to communicate were little to none. The hospital failed to provide the proper means needed in order to communicate effectively with the person that was being treated and being spoken to. Because there was no use of an interpreter and there were no questions asked to whether or not there was an interpreter needed, there was false accusation to the mother and family. The language barriers went unrecognized and were not addressed at the time. This caused unnecessary reports to the Valencia County