NM Voices in the News
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COVID grew New Mexico hunger relief network
New Mexico In Depth--Although these are separate data points — deaths with underlying conditions, versus mortality rates by race and ethnicity — they are “absolutely connected,” said Emily Wildau, research and policy analyst at New Mexico Voices for Children.
Gathering held in support of state Constitutional Amendment #1
KOAT TV--"Constitution Amendment #1 will be a real game changer for our state. For too long, we have ranked really low in many measures of child well-being," Vigil said.
Education, environment advocates warn about instability of oil and gas revenue
Source NM--Amber Wallin, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, said issues in education funding go beyond any one election, and officials and New Mexicans need to think about how they can best set up future generations. “We have massive needs in our state and in our schools, in our families that are really generational problems to solve. They’re not election-cycle problems to solve.”
Land Grant Permanent Fund constitutional amendment is years in the making
NM Political Report--“We know learning begins at birth. Why not expand the idea of education from kindergarten down to birth? And use the Land Grant Permanent Fund as the source of funding for early childcare funding? That was the original intent,” he said.
How could recent federal laws signed by Biden aid New Mexico in shift from fossil fuels?
Carlsbad Current Argus--“With new federal funds available to state and local leaders, New Mexico has an exciting opportunity to invest in the health and well-being of our children, our climate, and our economy,” Wallin said.
Child care facilities offer new possibilities for some state workers
Santa Fe New Mexican--“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.
Data: Child poverty rate in N.M. dipped amid pandemic
Santa Fe New Mexican--“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.
New U.S. Census data indicates improvements in child poverty and other child well being indicators
NM Political Report--“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.
New Mexico can move forward on education with heart
Santa Fe New Mexican--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.
Kids Count analysts urge voters to support school funding measure
Santa Fe New Mexican--“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.”