News2024-12-19T09:44:25-07:00

NM Voices in the News

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Jun 112025

Advocacy group talks report ranking New Mexico last for child wellbeing

KOB--The 2025 National Kids Count is in, putting New Mexico at the bottom for child well-being. “A reminder that these numbers are from 2023, so we hadn’t fully implemented our almost universally free childcare and access to pre-K yet in 2023, it was just starting to roll out. That number we expect it to rise in coming years,” she said. Graduation rates are still trending upward, but stats that do raise some eyebrows are math and reading scores.

Jun 112025

Report: NM’s child well-being shows mixed momentum

Public News Service--A traditional marker used to measure child well-being in the U.S. shows New Mexico notched both improvements and declines in several areas. The Annie E. Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Book historically shows New Mexico at or near the bottom of its report, which puts it at 50th in the nation. Emily Wildau, senior research and policy analyst at New Mexico Voices for Children, said it is important to remember the data was collected in 2023, when kids and families were experiencing severe inflation from the pandemic.

Jun 112025

Report: New Mexico ranks last in the nation for child well-being, again

Albuquerque Journal--New Mexico has once again been ranked the worst state in the country for child well-being, according to the newest annual Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count data book. Those results reflect a marked lack in progress over the five years since the state received a 2018 landmark ruling that its public education department was violating students’ constitutional rights with the quality of instruction provided — and a subsequent April ruling that it had not done enough to improve.

Jun 092025

Once again, N.M. ranks 50th for kids; this must change

Santa Fe New Mexican--New Mexicans are a people of strength, resilience and deep-rooted pride — shaped by our commitment to community and our dedication to the well-being of families. That’s why it’s painful to reconcile our values with the news in this week’s release of state rankings on child well-being from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual Kids Count Data Book. Once again, New Mexico is ranked 50th. Two things are true: Progress takes time — and our children can’t afford to wait.

Nov 302024

Let’s Use Childcare Assistance to Lift the Workers Out of Poverty Too

El Semanario--While it’s great to know that the expansion of universal child care has such a dramatic effect on lowering poverty in New Mexico for the children and families who receive the program, there is one significant way in which the CA program falls short: wages for child care and other early care and education (ECE) workers remain unacceptably low. If we can use our CA program to lift kids and families out of poverty, why don’t we use it to lift the people who provide that care out of poverty as well?

Nov 242024

Head Start could be threatened under Trump

NM Political Report--Jacob Vigil, deputy policy director for New Mexico Voices for Children, told NM Political Report that Head Start is “crucial” to enabling many women in New Mexico to stay in the workforce. “It’s one of the most effective anti-poverty programs for the most vulnerable kids in our country. Head Start continues to be a huge part of the rural childcare system,” Vigil said.

Nov 222024

House speaker, advocates plot pushback on Trump deportation plans

Santa Fe New Mexican--“New Mexico is home to an estimated 60,000 undocumented immigrants,” said Zulema Chavero, citizenship coordinator for Somos Un Pueblo Unido. She said they “pay more than $67.7 million annually in state and local taxes,” citing a 2020 report from New Mexico Voices for Children.

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