Alysia

When Alysia was sixteen, the police raided her aunt’s trailer and arrested Alysia for being under the influence of methamphetamine. Alysia was detained at the Juvenile Detention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico where we met. Alysia’s step dad introduced her to meth when she was fourteen, after her mother was arrested and sentenced to three years in state prison for car theft. During her childhood, Alysia was shuffled between homes, often staying with her grandma, her aunt or her friend’s house. The oldest of five siblings, Alysia helped raise her brothers and sisters, noting in an interview that her fondest childhood memory was “watching my siblings grow up.” When Alysia was thirteen, her biological father, who she had met for the first time six months prior, died suddenly. Around this time, Alysia recalls receiving a phone call from her mom’s then boyfriend, informing her that her mom was being arrested in the front lawn of his house. Alysia confides, “the day my mom got arrested. That’s when I started fucking up in school.” Alysia completed middle school and the first month of 9th grade, but then dropped out. She confides that she doesn’t remember much from this time period, as the meth helped “burn all the bad memories out of my brain.” Alysia visited her mother in prison sporadically, saying “my mom was never there for me. So I did the same to her.” After being arrested at sixteen and incarcerated in juvie, the court ordered Alysia to a treatment center five hours from Albuquerque where she would seek drug counseling for three months and then be placed in the foster care system. At the age of seventeen, Alysia ran away from her foster home and hitched a ride to Los Lunas where her grandma lived. Soon after, she met Emmanuel, who would become her husband a year later. Both dealing with a drug problem, they ended up in county jail after Alysia’s 18th birthday; a juvenile warrant had been issued after Alysia ran away from foster care and she was ordered to complete probation even after becoming a legal adult. After completing probation twice and becoming pregnant at the age of 18, Alysia got married to Emmanuel and give birth to Leticia, who is now two years old. Alysia remarks, “the best part of my life was when I met my husband and we had our daughter.”

Now 21 years old, Alysia has returned to school to finish her high school diploma. She hopes to become a nurse or radiologist after graduation. Meanwhile, Emmanuel, who has been incarcerated 28 times and notes that “MDC was practically my second home,” has gotten a full time job as a security guard. Right before Leticia’s birth, Emmanuel’s former gang affiliate threatened his life, causing Alysia and Emmanuel to go, basically, into hiding ever since. Now associating with few people, Alysia and Emmanuel spend most of their time in their apartment when not at school or work. When asked to look back on her experiences of incarceration, Alysia confides, “I hate being stuck in one place and not being able to leave. That’s what juvie was like. Even when I lived with my grandma, I was always taking off on my own.”

Alysia, age 16, looks back as she sits amongst youth during a Catholic Mass on Sunday at the juvenile detention center.

Alysia, age 16, lies on her bed in her cell at the juvenile detention center.

Alysia, age 16, cries on the phone with her grandmother, as she tries to reach her mother who she has not spoken to since her arrest one week prior. “She just doesn’t care about me. Only herself. I want out of here,” says Alysia.

Alysia, age 16, sits up during exercise in the gym at the juvenile detention center.

Alysia, age 16, comforts Jasmine, age 15, who has just found out that her grandfather passed away.

Alysia, age 16, sits in the communal area and draws in the girls’ unit at the juvenile detention center.

Alysia, age 16, leans her head against a door as she stands in line with other girls in the cafeteria of the juvenile detention center in Albuquerque, NM.

Alysia, age 16, stands in command call, or a line, to exit the girls’ unit, while Jasmine, age 15, leans and cries into Alysia’s back.

Alysia, age 16, looks at her tattoo, as she sits in the communal area at the juvenile detention center.

Alysia, age 16, and Jasmine, age 15, look into each other’s eyes, as they sit in their shared cell at the juvenile detention center.

Alysia, age 16, sits inside the gym, as other girls play handball and basketball.

Alysia cries and hugs her cousin, while her mother, Anastasia, (right) stands and cries. Alysia is given 10 minutes to hug her cousin and her mother before being transferred to a court-ordered treatment facility for 6 months where she will focus on getting sober from meth.

A vase of flowers, a baby bottle, and a picture of Alysia’s mom and her brother who is child protective services sits on Alysia’s dining room table.

Alysia, age 19, looks at Emmanuel, age 25, as he strokes her head while they sit on their couch. Alysia met Emmanuel when she was 17 after running away from foster care. They married when she turned 18.

Alysia, age 20, puts on makeup in the morning, as her daughter, Leticia, stands beside her.

Alysia, age 20.

Alysia, age 19, plays with Leticia, age 1, as Emmanuel, age 25, stands nearby in their bedroom.

Leticia, age 2, sits in the backseat of Alysia’s car.

Alysia, age 20, and Emmanuel, age 26, hold each other in the living room of their apartment in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

A family photo taken at the zoo on the family’s refrigerator door.

Alysia lies on grass at the park as Leticia touches her hand. “I try to give her what I did not have. Take her out. Make childhood something fun and innocent,” says Alysia.

A fan and open door on a summer day at Alysia’s apartment,

Leticia, age 2, waits for Alysia, age 20, at the end of the corridor, as Alysia walks towards her at their apartment complex.

Leticia, age 2, lies on her back and holds two teddy bears.

Isadora Kosofsky

Documentary Photographer & Filmmaker

Alysia