“Certainly during the pandemic we saw what a lack of access to child care can do to families and workers and to the workforce and economy,” said Wallin. She said without reliable access to child care programs, many parents — mothers in particular — ended up dropping out of the workforce to care for their kids at home. Child care is “one of the keys to supporting the workforce and economic recovery,” she said.
“A lot of the states can expect to see these improvements fade over time as the federal programs expire, but New Mexico should see lasting improvement from policy changes made over the last few years,” said Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children.
“Tax credits for families earning low incomes are one of the most effective ways to reduce child poverty and improve outcomes for children and their families,” Wallin said. “And because they are spent on basic necessities like housing and food, they create economic activity that’s good for the whole state.”
“The biggest thing we see is the overall rate of poverty for kids under 18 dropped from 9.2 percent [in 2020] to 5.2 percent [in 2021],” she said.
County Fact Sheets In advance of the Nov. 8, 2022, election, these fact sheets provide data on young children - one of the groups who will benefit from the passage of Constitutional Amendment 1. Includes information on the ballot question and an estimate of how many children could benefit from its passage. (County-and state-level data on population and indicators of child well-being for children younger than age 5)
There is plenty to celebrate in the landmark Investment Reduction Act. New Mexicans will benefit with lower energy costs, good-paying jobs, more energy-efficient homes and businesses, cleaner air, funding for wildfire prevention and drought preparedness, and much more.
For years, probation has been used to try and keep youth from further involvement in the criminal justice system. But, as recent studies have shown, probation is neither effective at keeping our communities safer nor of rehabilitating the youth it is supposed to serve. Probation, in fact, can actually lead to youth being further ensnared in the system.
New Mexico voters can also take action by voting Yes on Constitutional Amendment 1 on the ballot in November. Constitutional Amendment 1 would draw down a small portion of the $26 billion permanent school fund to support high-quality early childhood care and education services — such as home visiting and pre-kindergarten — and services for at-risk students.
“We knew over 10 years ago that we needed to change our educational investments to earlier in a child’s life if we were going to change their trajectory,” said senior research and policy analyst Jacob Vigil. “We knew we needed a lot of money to make that happen, more than likely could be raised in taxes.” If passed, the amendment would bring roughly $100 million to K-12 education and $150 million to the state’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department, which oversees services such as preschool, child care and home visiting programs in the state.
And how about this? New Mexico — ranked as one of the poorest states in the country — has prioritized free child care as an essential need and common good for families, the economy and the state's future. The product of a decadelong grassroots push by groups like New Mexico Voices for Children (NMvoices.org), the program is open to all 0- to 5-year-olds — and it also provides decent pay (starting at $18 an hour) to attract quality caregivers and instructors. The "Land of Enchantment" has become the Land of Can-do.