Healthy & Safe Communities
Safe and supportive communities build resilient families and a strong state. But our communities, workforce, and economy cannot be healthy when so many New Mexico children and families lack access to a comprehensive and high-quality system of physical and behavioral health, prevention, and wellness resources. And none of us can be healthy and safe until we do a better job of taking care of our natural environment, which includes lessening our collective carbon footprint and protecting our air, land, and water.
Featured Content
Art as an Alternative
Given that so many youth within the state’s juvenile system have faced multiple adverse childhood experiences, any effective rehabilitation efforts must address their long-term impacts. This report looks at how informal diversion programs based on the arts can help youth who are dealing with ACEs heal and reintegrate into their communities while saving the state money.
Health-in-All-Policies for New Mexico
Your state of health is dependent on many variables – including where you live, how much you earn, and even how far you went in school. These are called “social determinants of health” and they not only impact your health but they also impact your ability to choose a healthy lifestyle. Everyone’s health could be improved if lawmakers took these determinants of health into account when creating public policies. This report offers an overview of the determinants of health as well as the policies that can improve health for all.
Ending Childhood Food Insecurity in New Mexico
New Mexico’s childhood food insecurity rate has long been at or near the highest in the nation. The pandemic and resulting recession only made it worse. This report looks at why food insecurity is such a problem in New Mexico, how it impacts children and families, and what the state can do about it. (State- and county-level data on food and economic insecurity)
Recent Publications
New Mexico Children’s Roadmap Report
Written by Emily Wildau, MPP, and Jonathan Salazar, M.Ed. [...]
2025 New Mexico KIDS COUNT Data Book
NM KIDS COUNT Data Book Critical investments in a family- and child-focused policy agenda have improved the lives of families and children in New Mexico, but federal changes threaten this progress. This annual report provides data on numerous child well-being indicators related to economic security, education, health, and family and community, and includes policy solutions. (State-, county-, tribal- and school district-level data on child well-being.)
Recent Blog Posts
Healthy Kids Start with Clean School Buses
New Mexico has an opportunity right now to make the school day healthier, safer, and quieter for thousands of children, but only if we take advantage of it. The Community Benefit Fund, known as SB 48, passed during the 2025 legislative session, was created to help communities invest in projects that strengthen local economies, create jobs, and prepare for climate challenges.
Thousands of New Mexicans Face Medicaid Coverage Loss Under New CMS Guidance
Previously, New Mexico Voices detailed how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) threatens access to affordable health care. Now, a new interim final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), released on June 1, makes those threats even more severe.Â
Recent News Coverage
NM’s Voices for Children promotes youth well-being on statewide tour
KSFR--New Mexico's major investments in children will be highlighted in a multicity tour starting this month and residents will be asked for thoughts on how to keep the momentum going. New Mexico Voices for Children, in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, has created a roadmap of improvements to childcare, education, healthcare and family supports.
New Mexico Voices launches statewide tour to discuss Children’s Roadmap findings
Tri-City Record--New Mexico Voices for Children, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is launching a statewide community tour where they will share findings from the New Mexico Children's Roadmap.
Programs, Coalitions & Networks
The New Mexico Environmental Public Health Network became a program of NM Voices at the start of 2021. As our work both on public health and environmental health and justice had been ramping up over several years, it made sense to bring this project into the NM Voices family. As our previous environmental health focused on protecting federal lands and mitigating the harm done by oil and gas exploration and extraction, the NMEPHN work is more broadly based on protecting the state’s natural resources of air, water, and land.
New Mexico Civic Engagement Table A project of the Center for Civic Policy, NMCET unifies more than 40 diverse organizations from different sectors around a common agenda to strengthen our democracy. Among its issues are economic justice, early childhood education, climate justice, immigration reform, and economic development.