Child well-being in New Mexico appears to be slowly improving. As history has shown us, fighting poverty is a policy choice. This was made clear by the pandemic-era changes in the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC). The CTC expansion led to the largest decrease in national child poverty on record. Not only did child poverty dramatically decline, but the gaps between the poverty rates for children of color and those for white children also narrowed. Not surprisingly, the year after the federal CTC expansion expired, the gaps in poverty by race and ethnicity widened again. Still, child poverty in New Mexico remains lower than it did a decade ago.

Children of color in New Mexico make up the majority of kids, yet overall, they fall behind their peers nationwide and face disparate outcomes compared to kids who are Asian and Pacific Islander and white in New Mexico, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2024 Race for Results report.

A report on a recently concluded statewide guaranteed income pilot program with 330 immigrant families demonstrated unrestricted cash assistance programs allowed for low-wage earners to pursue better jobs, increase their educational levels, and improve other critical outcomes for their children. The report, Guaranteed Income: Increasing Employment and Helping Families Thrive, on the New Mexico Guaranteed Income Pilot Program for Immigrant Families, was released on December 12, 2023.

Five staff members from the policy team at NM Voices for Children have been promoted. Paige Knight, MPP, and Jacob Vigil, MSW, who were both Senior Research and Policy Analysts, have been promoted to Deputy Policy Directors. Javier Rojo, MPA, and Emily Wildau, MPP, who were both Research and Policy Analysts, have been promoted to Senior Research and Policy Analysts. Lydia Paukei, JD, MSW, who was a Tribal Policy Fellow and Research and Policy Analyst, has been promoted to Policy Counsel.

Children are especially susceptible to extreme heat, air and water pollution, and other aspects of climate change. That’s the primary finding in a report released today by New Mexico Voices for Children. The report also looks at public policies the state can adopt to help protect the climate from more devastation and to better prepare New Mexicans from extreme weather and climate events, particularly those living in high-risk areas.

“The data show that the state must keep pushing itself to create opportunities for all New Mexico kids to thrive, but we’ve also seen progress in most indicators, and many recent family-focused state policy changes give us strong reasons to expect that we’ll continue to see improvements in the future,” said Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, which runs the state’s KIDS COUNT program.

New Mexico is at a critical juncture between the recent and significant investments made in early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs and the political will to make those programs universal and permanent. That is one of the conclusions in a new report, Early Childhood Care and Education in New Mexico: Using New Tools and Rising to the Challenge.

“Our report is not warning of doom and gloom, but rather urging policymakers to strike while the iron is hot and to prepare for the downturn now while excess state revenue and federal opportunity allows for decisive and impactful action toward revenue diversification.”

“This state-level Child Tax Credit (CTC) will be a big help to New Mexico’s working families and increasing the amount for families who are paid low incomes will truly target the credit to where it’s most needed. We also need to make the credit permanent."