Jan 22 2024

Kids Count Data Book Focuses on Racial Equity

2024-01-23T15:51:43-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage, Racial and Ethnic Equity News Coverage|

Santa Fe Reporter--“One of the big policies that we’re excited about this year is particularly focused on Native American students and helping them to graduate, and that’s related to really making sure there is dedicated funding to support our Native students,” Wildau said. “We’re going to be really supportive of that.”

Jan 22 2024

Report: Child welfare advocates cite reasons for optimism despite rising rates of death, abuse

2024-01-22T14:36:16-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage, Racial and Ethnic Equity News Coverage, Tax and Budget News Coverage|

Santa Fe New Mexican--"All of these common-sense decisions ... not only prevented a significant decline in well-being for New Mexico kids and families, but it also laid a strong foundation for us to continue seeing improvements in many indicators of child well-being in the 2022 data," Wildau said.

Jan 15 2024

Early childhood department requests $800 million from state budget

2024-01-16T16:11:57-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, News Coverage|

NM Political Report--Bill Jordan, interim co-director and government relations officer for New Mexico Voices for Children, said one of the nonprofit’s legislative priorities for 2024 is to see full funding for early childhood services. He said NMVC doesn’t want to see lawmakers slack off on expanding early childcare services now that the 1.25 percent additional distribution from the Land Grant Permanent Fund is helping to expand ECECD’s services.

Jan 03 2024

Budget offers chance for historic change in New Mexico

2024-01-03T14:57:27-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, News Coverage, Tax and Budget News Coverage|

KRWG--New Mexico Voices for Children has proposed a number of policies that would directly help struggling families. They include paid family and medical leave; increased funding for early childhood care and education; a new fund to support tribal education; full funding for college tuitions; increased tax credits for young children, coupled with tax increases for upper-income residents; increased funding for the TANF program and full funding for Medicaid and Disabilities waivers.

Dec 12 2023

Guaranteed basic income program bolsters job, housing security among immigrant households: report

2023-12-13T14:55:23-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, News Coverage, Racial and Ethnic Equity News Coverage|

The Hill--Mixed-status immigrant families are less likely to have health insurance, stable employment, savings, stable housing and food security, according to the report. “Their exclusion from most of the social safety net further exacerbates their tenuous socio-economic conditions,” the report states.

Dec 12 2023

New Report Shows Positive Outcomes with Guaranteed Income Pilot Program

2023-12-13T10:27:38-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, News Coverage, Racial and Ethnic Equity News Coverage|

Santa Fe Reporter--At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, immigrant families were “not only excluded from pandemic relief, but also social safety nets,” leading them to be the focus of the program, NM Voices for Children Javier Senior Research and Policy Javier Rojo said during a news conference. Such exclusion took place despite mixed-status households reportedly paying $68 million in local and state taxes yearly in New Mexico.

Nov 03 2023

New Mexico senator proposes the federal government double lunch money for schools

2023-11-06T10:43:03-07:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, News Coverage|

Albuquerque Journal--New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota, Vermont, Michigan and Massachusetts all made school breakfast and lunch free for all students starting this academic year. “The thing that’s really interesting is in New Mexico, the bill passed unanimously,” Wildau said. “Nobody voted against it, and so that was really unique.”

Oct 27 2023

Heinrich, Fellow Senators Introduce Legislation to Help New Mexico Continue to Provide Free School Meals

2023-10-30T11:32:55-06:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health News Coverage, News Coverage|

Rio Rancho Observer--“This year, New Mexico became one of the first states to provide healthy school meals to every student in part by leveraging federal meal reimbursements through the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program,” said Emily Wildau, director of New Mexico Kids Count at New Mexico Voices for Children. “But current meal reimbursement rates don’t cover the full cost of school meal programs."

Sep 29 2023

Some States Are Fighting Rising Child Poverty With Tax Credits

2023-10-02T12:26:18-06:00Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, News Coverage|

Capital & Main--“It was so positive for families in New Mexico,” said Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children. “It helped them pay bills, buy groceries and face the economic challenges of the pandemic. Seeing how much of a difference it made, state lawmakers shifted into gear and passed the credit.”

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