Funding for New Mexico in Focus is provided by viewers like you.

>>Nash: This week on New Mexico in Focus, the children's roadmap is here, and it's long on both challenges facing kids and solutions for the future.

>>Gabriella: Younger students felt a higher sense of belonging than students, as they kind of grew up and became students in middle school and high school, and so there's a lot of room for improvement for students wanting to be at school and feeling like they belong.

>>Nash: Plus, a group of veterans advocates tells us about local efforts to support those who served in the face of federal uncertainty.

New Mexico in focus starts now.

Thanks for joining us.

I'm Nash Jones.

So the nonprofit New Mexico Voices for children is probably best known for its work on the annual Kids Count Data book, which measures outcomes and often presents a pretty grim picture for our state.

Well, over the summer, the group published a different kind of report called The Children's Roadmap, examining the systems that underlie those outcomes.

Gabrielle Uballez, executive director of voices for children, is here tonight to walk us through that report.

Also, with Wednesday being Veterans Day, we brought in a trio of advocates to shine a light on what's being done here in New Mexico to ensure the people who wore the uniform get back as much as they gave.

But we begin tonight with a little cleanup on aisle six from last week's midterms elections.

If you are anywhere near as neurotic as we are about watching the returns, you surely noticed that Bernalillo County, where nearly a third of New Mexicans live, was absent from the results board on election night until after 10:00.

The long delay in posting those results came courtesy of a whole mess of same day voter registrations at a UNM polling site, and ultimately, a judgment call from Bernalillo County Clerk Michelle Kavanaugh.

The first term Democratic clerk has taken significant heat for that decision, including from members of her own party who felt like she took a spray can to New Mexico's reputation as a stronghold for first rate elections.

And with all eyes soon to be fixed on our state's early Democratic presidential primary.

The question of how Kavanaugh will choose to post early voting totals going forward hangs over New Mexico's largest city.

Tonight, the clerk joins executive producer Jeff Proctor to explain.

>>Jeff: Clark Cavanaugh, thank you so much for being here.

And welcome to New Mexico in Focus.

>>Michelle: Thank you for having me.

I'm excited to talk to you.

>>Jeff: We just heard from Nash that your decision to delay posting early election results for Bernalillo County kind of came down to a same day registration snafu.

Briefly tell me, please, what happened at that polling location on campus at UNM?

>>Michelle: Absolutely.

I will, first of all, I will push back a little bit on the word snafu because it wasn't a snafu.

What it was, was it is a location that is set up with a certain number of ballot stations, certain number of same day registration stations, and the volume of voters and same day registration voters was significantly higher than in any election that I have seen.

And I've been with the clerk's office for six years now.

In fact, we had 5000-- over 5000 Same day registrations on Election Day, itself.

>>Jeff: County wide?

>>Michelle: County wide, just on Election day and at UNM, we had over 400.

It's a pretty small site.

I'm not sure-- I don't know if you've ever voted there before, but it's a relatively small site.

It's in the Lobo Lounge downstairs of the sub 231.

I think of those came after 4:00 pm on Election Day.

And so one of the things that I think people need to understand is the way that the SDR actually works.

>>Jeff: Same day registration.

>>Michelle: Same day registration.

Correct.

Somebody will come in with their documentation and they have to check in.

They have to provide all of their information.

They have to make sure that they know all of their information, which is a feat sometimes in and of itself.

And they give that to one of our clerks, that somebody who's specifically set up to take same day registrations.

They enter all that in.

Then it goes back to our main office downtown, where we have another set of staff members who are working to enter that into the state's database, make sure everything comes back.

They haven't already voted.

They aren't registered in another state, for example.

Or even if they are registered in another state, we can then register them here.

>>Jeff: So we get through all of that and then the person can go ahead and vote.

>>Michelle: Then they have to go vote.

So if there's already a line in the voting line itself, there's a line in the SDR area as well.

It creates a lot of there are a lot of people gotcha that are there waiting.

>>Jeff: And let me move on just just briefly here.

>>Michelle: It can take a long time.

>>Jeff: I totally understand that.

So I think you've convinced me that the better word is overwhelm as opposed to snafu.

>>Michelle: Thank you.

I know that the clerk's office was tabling, for example, at some events on campus prior to Election Day.

You guys weren't the only ones.

We were encouraging folks that they could still register the same day that they were going to go vote right here on this very television program.

My question is, were you prepared for that kind of an influx of same day registrations, particularly at a college campus voting location?

>>Michelle: Sure.

So I will say that we were we had additional tablets that were brought in.

We had additional staff brought in to handle this line once we saw it.

Now, the issue is this was kind of unprecedented because we tout the same day registration language.

We encourage people to go vote.

We we table at UNM, we do all the media stuff.

>>Jeff: Your efforts worked.

>>Michelle: And this time they worked.

>>Jeff: Were you prepared for that many same day registrations, given what you were seeing with early voting totals?

>>Michelle: You know, I, I think that there's always something that we can do to prepare more, you know, in case of a situation like that.

But that site is generally pretty quiet all the time.

>>Jeff: Let's get let's get to your decision.

You ultimately decided to hold off on posting those early results, because there were so many folks in line.

Put me in the room.

When you're making your decision, who are you talking to?

What are you weighing?

You've kind of got this big ol stack early votes.

Then you've got a bunch of people in line.

Everybody wants to see the results.

You know that.

What are you weighing?

>>Michelle: Everybody wants to see the results as early as possible.

I 100% get that.

Firstly, we don't usually release-- We don't release early in absentee votes at 7:00, even though they're available at that point.

Everything's been tallied.

>>Jeff: And the statute says that you can.

Correct.

So this is a discretionary call.

>>Michelle: We can release them at 7:00.

But this is a big county.

And without fail at one site or another, we're going to have people still in line.

And my decision making was based on the fact that we still had probably about 100 people in line at UNM, even at 8:00, waiting to vote.

I had to look-- We have we have a control room, a hotline room where we have all the sites, we have all the votes that came in that day.

We have all the wait times.

We have all of that stuff.

I have elections administrator, I have deputies, and they're all telling me this is about how long we expect it to take.

We're making calls to the site.

>>Jeff: Anybody else on the line with you?

Did you speak with Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, for example?

Are you seeking guidance as you're weighing that decision?

>>Michelle: At this point?

I haven't been reaching out to the Secretary of State.

One great thing about the Secretary of State is that she does realize that every county is so different, that she does need to give us that discretion.

And because I had been to UNM, I had seen how many young faces were there in those lines, saw how many people were still there at 8:00.

We were calling the the presiding judge at UNM saying, what's going on?

Why are where things taking a while?

You know, and and it just was a function of what was going on.

And, and I said, as long as those people are in that line, I'm not releasing Bernalillo County results onesie twosies There's an argument to release the results, but with that many, not only am I going to disenfranchize folks.

Am I going to disillusion these brand new voters who are-- Every single one of them was on their phone when they were in line.

You know, they see, you know, CD1 has been decided it's way lopsided or this bond question or these House races have all been decided.

Well, I might as well leave.

You know, I've been.

>>Jeff: In fairness, if people are looking at their phones, by the time we got to 8 or 9:00 on election night, this time, if you're looking at the New York Times app, if you're looking at any news coverage, the vast majority of these races in New Mexico had already been called by the time you posted the results.

Do you feel like that should have factored into your decision making?

>>Michelle: I don't think so, because what I was looking at was Bernalillo County races.

And with all due respect to the statewide candidates and our congressional candidates, they are what they are.

>>Jeff: You're thinking about those couple of house races.

>>Michelle: In the last regular local election, we had several recounts in the in the last city council election, we had two recount.

What was the word I'm thinking-- runoff.

Yes.

Thank you.

And in past years we've had races decided by, you know, 1020 votes.

And knowing that history, knowing that I had the potential to influence whether or not people were going to cast their votes for those local candidates.

That was what really influenced that decision.

I knew that congressional, gubernatorial, whatever, those had all been decided, essentially.

>>Jeff: Gotcha.

>>Michelle: But it's those local races that I think are the most important to residents of Bernalillo County.

>>Jeff: So let's get to some of that in terms of like real world, practical, tangible impacts of your decision on election night.

From my perspective, at least, there were just a couple.

Gregg Hull, who was running for governor, got to make two speeches that night, one in which he said, let's wait till all the votes came in.

And then he went ahead and conceded.

And then Greg Cunningham, who was running for Congress, ultimately got to concede the news release the day after Election Day.

And instead of a front in front of a bunch of television cameras that said, you took enough heat for this decision to warrant you sitting down at your laptop and packing out an op ed piece that published earlier this week.

You wrote that your first obligation was to the voters who were still waiting, not to the election night scoreboard.

How does that speak to the criticism you received, which was really more about election transparency than a sports metaphor?

>>Michelle: You know, I recognize that there were probably people out there who were wondering something going on.

This is kind of weird.

You know, Bernalillo County doesn't really sit seven, but, you know, it is getting pretty late.

But to the credit of our communications and outreach team, we also had a series.

We had multiple television cameras that were there.

We had a couple different press conferences, and our outreach team was in constant contact with the media, giving them updates on these things.

And so whether or not, you know, that message went out is something that we need to address in the future, but not to the fault of our comms team, because they were making sure that we were updating the press as we went along.

>>Jeff: Let's get to some of the specific criticism here.

The political blogger Joe Monahan called your decision, quote, a stain on the democratic process.

He used some other words as well that I shan't repeat here because I can't afford the FCC fines.

Also, a couple of members of your own party, state Senator Moe Maestes, State Rep Day Hochman-Vigil.

They used words like outrageous to describe your decision, your response?

>>Michelle: It was a little bit disappointing that I did get that sort of response, but I also understand that they were on the radio.

They were on his show and they were-- >>Jeff: Were Joe Monahan█s Show?

>>Michelle: On Joe Monaghan's show, he holds a podcast in the evening as they discuss results, and it was frustrating for them not to have anything local to discuss, I get that.

>>Jeff: Do you think that's the extent of what that criticism was, particularly from Representative Hochman Vigil?

>>Michelle: Sure.

So I will say I've had conversations with both Senator and Representative Hochman Vigil in the days following Election Day and To Representative Hochman Vigil█s credit, You know, she did say we were wondering, you know, what is.

Where is the transparency here?

You know, what is the real reason?

And I said, well, this is what happened.

This is why I waited.

And here are some of the maybe systemic or statutory limitations that we had that that led to this.

You know, we're always reflecting on things that we can do better.

And I talked to her and I talked to her about some potential legislative changes that we can make to try and avoid having something like that happen again.

So she was very open to it.

>>Jeff: I got you.

That's a good transition.

Before I let you go today, I want to look ahead just a bit and read you one more quote from your op ed.

It says, we will always look to improve our processes, shorten lines and report results as efficiently as possible.

As you know, New Mexico has been moved up to the front of the trough, will be fourth for the Democratic primary and the presidential election year of 2028.

A lot of folks will be watching that night.

What should they expect in terms of what you're going to do with posting early results in a timely fashion?

>>Michelle: Sure.

So we'll look at the number of sites, Currently we have 74 sites.

Well, we're always looking to see if we can add additional, especially around our our super busy ones like Montgomery and Tramway.

Now you know UNM is definitely one will will look at closer in the legislature.

One change that I would really like to see is that the registration books stay open right now.

As of this year, as of October 6th, basically 30 days before the general election.

Books close.

You can't register online anymore.

You can't update your information online.

You can't do it by paper.

Your only option is to go in and do same day registration.

So one of the things that I would like to see changed is allowing those books to stay open, because we have same day registration anyway to let people make those changes, let people register up until election day.

That way people aren't having to wait in those lines.

They can do it from their homes.

They can do it, you know, much, much easier at that point.

And I think that harkens back to the days where everything really was paper and we didn't have such technology.

But technology is sometimes a double edged sword and can create other, other issues.

>>Jeff: That sounds like an awful lot to clean up and plenty of work for you in the next couple of years, but do you see a world in which you might not post early election results until 10:00 at night again?

>>Michelle: Well, I think that this election has been a good lesson in where some of our challenges do lie.

And, you know, as long as I am the clerk, I certainly hope that we don't run into any situations like this.

Of course, we're going to see greater turnout in 2028.

Certainly hope.

And so those are all things that we definitely want to make sure that we address well before then.

And no, I certainly hope that we don't see that again.

>>Jeff: Bernalillo County Clerk Michelle Kavanaugh, I sure appreciate you coming in for the conversation.

>>Michelle: Appreciate the time.

>>Nash: Thanks to Bernalillo County Clerk Michelle Kavanaugh for pulling back the curtain on her decision making.

The dire straits for New Mexico's children are well documented.

We have been at or near the bottom of lists measuring kids well-being for years.

But what are those gears that turn those wheels so often in the wrong direction?

Well, the nonprofit New Mexico Voices for children sought to find out and to share what it learned in a report published in June called The Children's Roadmap.

The organization's executive director, Gabrielle Uballez, joins us this week to discuss what they found.

And a quick note before we get into it, Antonio Sanchez, a producer for our show, received a modest payment to answer questions for the report's researchers.

Antonio did not weigh in on our questions for Uballez.

>> Nash: Gabrielle Uballez, welcome to New Mexico in Focus.

Appreciate you being here.

>> Uballez: Thank you for having me.

>> Nash: So, your report sought to understand the status of child well-being in New Mexico.

How did you go about that?

Where did you look?

>> Uballez: So, as you may know, New Mexico Voices for Children is the organization that holds the annual Kids Count report, which looks at a broad spectrum of child well-being outcomes.

This report really was a deep collaboration with the Kellogg Foundation that looked at how are the systems working that impact those outcomes.

So we both took data from some of our State Department's, as well as census data to understand, for example -- how does the health care system function in New Mexico?

That would give us the outcomes for children in terms of well-being and health.

>> Nash: Okay, and before we get into the recommendations that you made in this report for how New Mexico could improve some of these different systems, I want to explore what your report uncovered about where things stand today.

The state has gotten a lot of attention, of course, for its first in the nation universal child care program.

What did you find out about who's enrolled in that program and in where they're seeking that care?

>> Uballez: So, I think the first thing is we can celebrate universal child care as something that our state has imagined and made real in a lot of ways, in terms of budget and policy and a constitutionally guaranteed right.

At the same time, we have to understand whether or not it's reaching all communities in children equitably.

>> Nash: And is it?

>> Uballez: The state█s both doing a good job, and there's room for a lot of improvement in terms of implementation.

So, some of the things that we found was that the state has really grown how many child care slots there are between 2021 and 2026?

I think we went from 12 to 39,000, which is huge, right?

And that's something to be celebrated.

At the same time, we're seeing that higher income families are the families who have access to center based care, which, for the most part, has the four and five star ratings.

>> Nash: When you say center based care, what are the other options?

>> Uballez: Licensed home and home daycares.

And those can provide quality care too.

But there's a lot of room for improvement in terms of, sort of, the educational support children are receiving there.

And so the state, as it looks to expand in places like rural counties where center based care might not always be available.

How are they also supporting licensed homes in, for example, learning about methodologies and Montessori education so that there's not a huge gap in like what a 4 or 5 star care looks like for who's receiving that money.

>> Nash: You mentioned rural communities may not have center care.

Is that really where the disparities are falling in terms of what you're seeing today with equity and supply in this industry -- that it's rural New Mexico that's being left out?

>> Uballez: I think it's a mix of factors.

So, one of the things we talk about in the report is this idea of targeted universalism, that we want to have universal outcomes for children, but that doesn't mean that we're going to have a universal approach to how to fix things.

So why there might be a gap in center based care in a place like Espanola is going to be very different than what we see in, for example, McKinley County.

The communities are different, infrastructure is different, and how the state approaches bringing that high quality care to that place is going to look different depending on what the needs of that community are.

>> Nash: Okay, let's move on to K through 12.

So, some of our older kids in New Mexico, you saw that despite vast investments under Michelle Lujan Grisham█s administration over the last several years, there are still lags in outcomes in attendance was another big one.

Are certain students in New Mexico bearing the brunt of that?

>> Uballez: It's most of our students because in large part, our state is still grappling with the Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit.

And so, 70% of students sort of fall under that category of who's imply native students, English language learners, students with disabilities, and low income students.

I think with our kids Count report, we look at indicators like test scores and reading and math which matter, and we want our students to meet those benchmarks.

This report, I think, took a really interesting approach to like, what makes kids want to show up and be excited to learn.

And so belonging was part of what we measured.

We saw that younger students felt a higher sense of belonging than students, as they kind of grew up and became students in middle school and high school.

And so there's a lot of room for improvement for students wanting to be at school and feeling like they belong, for having meaningful adult relationships.

And I think part of the good news is that we do have some models for programs in New Mexico that work to increase that sense of purpose and belonging.

>> Nash: Yeah, I found it really interesting that as a kid gets older, their perception of the school's climate actually declines over time.

You mentioned trusted adults being one element of that.

What else goes into that perception of the climate of a school?

>> Uballez: So, a few of the things that we would be really excited to see the state invest in, where there have been investments made already, but like, how do you expand the things that work?

Our ideas like community schools.

So how are schools really understanding the entire needs of a child and family so that they can access, for example, behavioral health in their school, which can increase the sense of belonging?

The other thing that we think about is paid internships for teens.

Some of our partners at Future Focused Education have advocated at the legislature for increased funding for programs that also increase economic stability, but give students a sense of purpose in the world.

Kids are more than their test scores.

And again, we want to see those test scores rise.

But there are other pieces to making kids want to be at school, learn and be successful adults in the long term.

Your organization argues that a child's health really begins before they're even born.

And so you took a look at prenatal and birthing care across New Mexico.

What did you find is the state of things there?

>>Gabrielle: So this report really gives us a clear picture of sort of what families are up against, especially in rural communities, when it comes to receiving prenatal care.

12 counties don't have access to OB-GYN.

>>Nash: Out of 33.

>>Gabrielle: Out of 33.

And then if you extend that into looking at pediatricians, it's 13 out of 33 or maybe even 15.

>>Nash: 15.

>>Gabrielle: So there's huge gaps in access to care.

You know, our state has done a great job of making sure people are insured.

We have a high rate of kids on Medicaid, but even if they have health insurance, and even if a pregnant person has health insurance, can they receive the care they need?

>>Nash: Yeah, besides maybe insurance, What is driving this lack of access?

>>Gabrielle: Not enough provider in the state.

You know, when we did this report, we said, here's the data.

It has some of the solutions, but there are things that we maybe haven't even thought of or imagined.

How do we hit the road and talk to communities?

Some of the folks we engaged with where people doing work with midwives and doulas across the state.

And so as we think about how do we provide people with quality care where we might not be able to have an ob-gyn.

Two years from now, that should be the standard.

And how do we get people what they need as quickly as possible?

Midwives and doulas can increase health outcomes for pregnant people and infants.

>>Nash: Some of these numbers are probably surprising to people, 15 counties with no pediatrician.

It sounds bad, but what could it actually mean for a New Mexico child who lives in one of these counties, who doesn't have access to that kind of preventative care?

>>Gabrielle: So one in four children don't receive an annual well, child check.

And those are the visits where, you know, a parent might understand what a child's behavioral health needs are.

It's where a child receives vaccinations.

It might be a place where a parent connects to something like home visiting, where they can get access to other resources they might be eligible for.

So it's not just about seeing a doctor.

It's about receiving connections to social supports and making sure child's on track to meet milestones.

I mean, poverty overall.

It can affect everything that we've been talking about education, health care and beyond.

New Mexico's childhood poverty rate has consistently ranked among the highest in nation.

What is the latest on where that stands today and how did you go about assessing it?

So I think this is the piece of our work that we want to bring the most nuance to what voice is.

On one hand, we still have one of the highest official poverty rates in the nation, which means income isn't keeping pace with what it actually costs to raise a child.

We found in this report that a single mother with one child would need to make about $68,000 a year to meet that child's needs.

When the reality of that median income for that same identity is around, I think, $38,000.

At the same time, the New Mexico has done an incredible job investing in income support programs like Snap and universal free child care and child tax credits.

These are all like super nerdy, policy wonk things, and you have to be able to know you're eligible for them to access them.

However, when you look at Supplemental Poverty Measure, you, Mexico has a lower than national.

Average.

>>Nash: And that's when you're factoring in these other income.

supports.

>>Gabrielle: All the income support programs, and I think You know, when lawmakers and the governor and advocates approach their work, we need to understand that our goal is meeting child a child's needs.

And so these income support programs do things like make sure kids have regular meals on their table, or their parents can afford to send them to child care, so maybe they can get a job or go back to school.

>>Nash: Because more of their money is staying in their pocket in terms of their relative low income, because they have support in these other ways.

>>Gabrielle: That is correct.

And I think the nuance part too right, at the same time, if our goal is to bring people out of deep poverty, how do we understand where their improvements to be made in things like workforce or minimum wage or direct cash assistance, that can really address a deep poverty?

I think one thing we're really excited about is we're starting to hear, for example, director Sallee at the Legislative Finance Committee say things like income support programs work, but they're not bringing people out of deep poverty the way that we want to see.

>>Nash: In the report, it states the official poverty rate likely fails to capture the full extent of financial hardship in New Mexico.

Is that what you're referring to?

>>Gabrielle: It is.

I think, that we are sitting at a really unique time where also the cost of living is just exploding.

And so, you know, gas to get to a job is probably unattainable for some people.

Our child tax credits are very robust and the model for the nation.

But are they enough?

Is everyone who needs them accessing them and then even like how they are designed.

There are some conversations across the nation about what would it look like to have a child tax credit that isn't paid once when you file your taxes, but how do you pace it over a year to meet a family█s needs?

So there's a lot of room for, I think, imagination and new ideas when it comes to addressing poverty.

>>Nash: Well thank you Gabrielle, Please stick around, We want to talk more about some of the recommendations that you've outlined in this report.

Thank you.

>>Wolff Part of our mission is to stop them from becoming homeless, rapid rehousing, working with landlords that exist.

And we have housing navigators that are working with landlords throughout the city to really attempt to find those homes.

But it is a challenge to match the the the right place, make sure that they're ready and that they have the support to stay there and then really working to help those veterans that do have a home stay in those homes.

>>Nash: Stick around for that Veteran's Day roundtable.

As we get a sense of the care and benefits available to New Mexicans in just under 15 minutes.

But first, let's return to my conversation with Gabrielle Uballez of New Mexico Voices for children.

Now that we've sifted through some of the biggest takeaways from the organization's children's roadmap, including gaps and inequities in education and health and the reverberations of harm that poverty can cause.

Let's talk about some potential solutions and what you would like to see lawmakers and governor elect Deb Haaland get done for New Mexico's kids.

>> Nash: Gabrielle, welcome back.

Thank you so much for staying with us.

The legislative session is quickly approaching in January.

We have a new Governor Elect in Deb Haaland.

How are you all at Voices for Children feeling about the New Mexico political landscape and what it might mean for some of your ideas getting to stick?

>> Uballez: We're thrilled because during the campaign season, we heard a gubernatorial candidate say things like, “increase the child tax credit for children in New Mexico.”

So, what -- >> Nash: And that's Deb Haaland.

>> Uballez: That█s Deb Haaland, and of course, we're a nonpartisan organization.

But your ears perk up when you hear something that you know is going to help children in poverty and help parents meet the needs of their kids in this state.

We feel like there's going to be a lot of political will to continue the programs that are working, that take some time to see results for, and at the same time, we think there's a lot of potential to really dig in and understand how those policies are being implemented and who they're reaching and who they're not reaching.

And so we're glad good ideas are going to stick, and we're feeling a sense of urgency for making them real in every child's life.

>> Nash: Well, let's talk about some of the recommendations that you have for the incoming governor, administration, the incoming new legislature with a Democratic majority -- supermajority this time.

Voices for Children wants to see a 20% increase in children in rural and tribal communities that receive child care assistance.

That sounds like a huge leap.

How do you get there?

>> Uballez: There are a few ways to get there.

I think one of the things we really care about at Voices is meeting communities where they are, and honoring tribal sovereignty in this work.

I think we have great examples in the state of early childhood education and care programs that in some cases, have opted out of taking state funding because they don't meet all the exact criteria that the state wants to see, while also being super high quality program.

So like one example is the Keras Children's Learning Center.

How do you take what has been successful at programs like that, and understand the questions you need to ask to make that real in other communities?

I think the other piece is funding for infrastructure, so that the tribes and rural communities have what they need to build infrastructure very quickly if they need it, and also to support the development of a workforce.

And as I've mentioned in almost everything I say, what that looks like in McKinley County is going to be very different than what that looks like in Taos -- >> Uballez: So, that specificity is going to be important?

You also want to see a 15% more children getting care from higher rated providers.

We talked earlier about some of the center based care not being as available in rural communities, for instance.

Some of that care is what is the higher -- is getting the higher ratings.

Is this really about expanding the number of quality providers across the state?

>> Uballez: Yeah, so it's about quality providers, not necessarily the form of care.

You can have a five star rating and be a licensed home, for example.

However, you might have to have the state or other programs providing technical assistance to those programs to be able to raise that rating.

And if a community wants to see more center based care, which can also be good for like community building or having other resources at that center for families like access to public benefits or, you know, community health.

That might be the approach they take.

So it's not necessarily the form, but how you get every type of school to the highest quality standards.

>> Nash: Okay.

Well, we spoke earlier in the show about school outcomes, absenteeism, issues around school climate, despite historic investments over the last many years, your organization wants to see 20% more students attending community schools.

For those unfamiliar with them, what is a community school exactly and why do you invest so much hope in them?

>> Uballez: So, the thing that's really great about working at Voices is we see children as whole people with many needs that need to be met, and communities are the same way.

And so community schools really allow -- parents and teachers and community members to create a school that meets their children's unique needs.

It can also include things like school based health centers, also designing the school to be more culturally relevant.

As an example.

This would actually be a thing that would be, in our opinion, pretty easy for the state to do.

Right now, how a school becomes a community school is by applying for a grant.

And so -- schools are competing with each other for resources.

We don't think that needs to be the case.

And also community schools are sort of time bound.

Can you transform this school into community school within three years?

And so how do you sustain a community school over the long term and make a model for what every child can have across the state -- >> Nash: And what is your recommendation?

How can the legislature sustain a community school, increase the amount of funding, so that folks aren't fighting over it?

>> Uballez: So, we've been talking to our friends at TENM, Transforming Education New Mexico, and also other experts who believe in community schools.

And they have a pretty simple answer, which is just make the funding available for every school that wants it and don't make it a grant application.

>> Nash: Moving on to health care.

Earlier, we spoke about maternal and family care deserts across New Mexico.

This year, the legislature tackled provider shortages through a number of different means, including joining a physician compact, reforming the medical malpractice insurance system.

Where do you stand on those solutions, specifically, as it affects childhood well-being and health?

>> Uballez: We're really proud of our legislature for tackling health care access and affordability And at the same time, those are one piece of a very, very complex issue.

You know, I think there are innovative approaches, and it's one of the things, as we've taken the roadmap on -- on the road -- [both laugh] across New Mexico to six different communities.

One of the things we're hearing from people who are providers across the spectrum of care, is, yes, we need to increase the number of OBGYN█s in rural counties, and that should be the standard.

At the same time, how are we investing in things like doulas and behavioral health specialists and midwives to provide that access to care?

And how are you creating both on ramps and like sustained relationships with those providers in those places?

And so in terms of maternal health and maternal mortality rates.

It's not just about when a person is pregnant and when they have the child.

It's also supporting that person the first full year after pregnancy.

And part of that is health care.

But part of it is also economic stability.

And so we recognize we need to address complex problems with complex solutions.

>> Nash: Yeah, and speaking of the maternal death rate, you would like to see that reduce by 45%.

Almost half.

And if that were to be a reality, what would the new governor and what would the legislature need to focus on?

I mean, you're saying it's not just about health care, so, where do they need to draw their attention?

>> Uballez: Yeah, so -- You know, the mortality rate or someone dying in childbirth or after childbirth is going to be different for different people and for different populations.

Some of the things will have to do with better access to behavioral health support.

Other things will look like increasing economic security for families.

So one big idea, that we have is this program called, Rx Kids.

I don't know if you're familiar with it, but it was piloted in Flint, Michigan.

And what that looks like is direct cash assistance as a health intervention, both during pregnancy and through the first year of an infant's life.

Studies have found that when this intervention is implemented in ZIP codes with high maternal mortality rates, which are also usually areas with high concentrations of poverty, >> Nash: Do you think that's something that the legislature may be open to, here in New Mexico in the coming year?

>> Uballez: I think so we've heard a lot of talk of direct cash assistance from many of our lawmakers.

You Mexico has more cash than we█ve ever had on hand to do innovative things.

And I think for us, the question is -- how do we understand when we need to implement something universally?

We know that universal access sometimes makes things more easier for people to get because there's no stigma.

At the same time, there are benefits to targeted interventions for those most in need.

I've been talking to some folks in the child welfare space, and one of the things they said to me is -- how can we take big swings to make sure we deliver on the promises for the most vulnerable kids in New Mexico?

And so we've made a lot of promises -- we've delivered for some families, and it might be that we need to do a little bit more for those who are the most vulnerable and historically disenfranchised.

>> Nash: Speaking of big swings, Governor Elect Deb Haaland is proposing creating a public option on the health care marketplace.

What do you think of that idea, particularly when thinking about it through the lens of care for children?

>> Uballez: It's exciting to hear that -- we have a Governor Elect who understands that health care is a right, not a privilege.

We're an organization that became a budget and tax policy expert because, as we were saying, we want things for kids and families.

The legislature would always ask, “how are you going to pay for it?”

And so -- I think there are things to work out in terms of revenue, how it intersects with Medicaid, what it does in terms of increasing -- children who are insured.

We have, I think, a 6% uninsured rate for children in New Mexico.

It used to be 3%, and that was the lowest point ever.

70% of our kids are on Medicaid.

And so I think there's just a lot of analysis that has to be done in terms of like, what would this make possible for kids in New Mexico?

>> Nash: And who█s it going to impact?

>> Uballez: And who's it going to impact?

And I think again, affordability has become a huge topic during the last few years.

We also want to talk about how we address poverty.

And those are different things.

I think the other thing I'll add is, encouraging the next governor and legislature, and especially the next governor, because they're the person who executes things they build.

How do we toggle between policy solutions and budgets and building and making those budgets real in people's lives?

And so a child can have an insurance card, but if it takes an hour to get to the nearest pediatrician, what does that mean?

And so if we're going to spend -- money.

How can that money make health care real?

And some of that is going to be continuing to build the infrastructure around it.

>> Nash: Thank you so much.

>> Uballez: Thank you.

>>Nash: Thanks to Gabrielle Uballez for wading through the children's roadmap findings and recommendations with us.

Wednesday was Veteran's Day, and after the Trump administration cut nearly 28,000 employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs last year, including about 5% of New Mexico's VA workforce, we wanted to learn more about the status of services for vets here in New Mexico, and not just the federal ones.

So we asked Deputy Secretary of the state Department of Veterans Services, Eric James, to join us, along with Brock Wolff, CEO of the New Mexico Veterans Integration Center, and Barbara Santillanes, president of the VFW local auxiliary 401.

And a note that we did invite the VA to be a part of this conversation.

But a representative declined due to what she described as very limited staffing on short notice.

>> Nash: Welcome to New Mexico in Focus.

Thank you all so much for being here.

>> Thank you Nash.

Barbara, I'd like to start with you.

You're the president of the VFW auxiliary 401, the local auxiliary.

You're also the widow of a veteran, the former caregiver for your husband, Joe Santillanes How did your experience of navigating VA healthcare benefits in New Mexico, and what you've heard from other VFW members, change under the Trump administration?

>> Santillanes: Honestly, I believe that it's a difficult thing when you're a caregiver and your veteran who does not even know or understand half of what he is entitled to receive as they get ill and become more and more dependent upon their caregiver.

I believe their caregiver has to take the role of knowing what to do.

When you work with the VA, you tend to find that the VA is, well, you got to go over here, you got to go over there, you got to do this.

You have a time limit for this.

Everything is timed.

Everything is step.

And when you have a sick veteran, that's not an easy accomplishment.

And the time frame, if you are with him, let's say for instance, he has six weeks of therapy.

He lands up in the hospital in the fifth week.

You go back and try to take him there, okay?

Then you have to start paperwork all over again.

So he sits for another three weeks.

At that time.

Those three weeks, he has now just gone down again.

These are the kind of things that I believe the VA needs to work on as far as being able to offer veterans, all veterans and not only being able to offer, but they need to explain these things to their caregivers.

Their caregivers don't understand a lot of this.

>> Nash: Deputy Secretary James, newly elected, reelected Congressman Gabe Vasquez.

He's proposed allowing veterans in southeastern New Mexico in Otero and Eddy counties to access the VA in El Paso, which is significantly closer than the hospital in Albuquerque.

If he were to be successful at this idea.

Do you think it would support and help the veterans that you serve in southeastern New Mexico?

>> James: So in the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services, you know, our role is to advocate for the veterans across the state of New Mexico and to provide the state benefit navigation and also administer our state benefits when working with our veterans in the southeast.

They've expressed that they would desire to go to El Paso in practice.

If we look at Dona Ana County and the community based outpatient outpatient clinic in Las Cruces, they already access El Paso.

And I think the bill is largely focused on the constituents within the region, in the Otero, Lee, in Eddy counties, expressing a desire to be realigned.

So there's a precedence that that could happen.

And if it's the desire for the veteran to make that realignment in its medically appropriate.

Albuquerque does represent a higher level of care, El Paso slightly less so.

Those are decisions that the veteran would have to make with their providing care team.

But it looks like there's already a precedence and it may be something that would be beneficial.

>> Nash: And meanwhile, your state agency offers transportation for rural New Mexicans.

Can you talk about what that provides?

>> James: Yeah, absolutely.

And that was a critical asset and a wonderful opportunity.

We have the HRT, which is the rural transportation program.

That's the VA's federal grant.

And then we also have a component that's the statewide transportation.

Large legislation in New Mexico provided additional funding, and that allows us to reach all 33 counties within the state of New Mexico.

>> Nash: How does it work?

>> James: Absolutely.

If a veteran has an approved VA appointment, that doesn't mean it has to be a community based outpatient clinic or a medical center.

It could be community care, but they submit their paperwork three days in advance, enough time to coordinate transportation.

And then we contract through transportation vendors and provide them door to door service.

So unlike maybe a van that travels from a community center into a medical center, this is unique, specific transportation for that veteran door to door.

>> Nash: Alright, Let's talk a little bit about mental health care.

Brock.

Your organization, the Veterans Integration Center Vic, provides behavioral health care to veterans, according to a ProPublica investigation published just this spring, hundreds of mental health providers have left the federal VA, and that's since Trump has taken office.

Some of us are waiting up to six months for care, and that's nationally.

What are you seeing here in New Mexico in terms of the need and what are you all providing the community?

>> Wolff: So, absolutely, there's a need.

There's a lot of post-traumatic stress syndrome with our veterans.

Obviously there's that.

But clearly the mental health needs you can't look just at the mental health needs.

We really try to take this holistic approach at the veteran.

And mental health is a key component.

Housing is another component of that.

What we've seen is the wait times are getting longer, and what we offer at the Vic is transitional housing a chance for them, what I always call a timeout on the field where they come from, the streets where they have a chance to stay with us for six months or so to work on their life skills, substance abuse, mental health issues, all of those issues, and then prepare.

And then we help them move into an apartment.

Our we don't have the luxury to wait six months when we only have them in transitional housing for six months.

So that's why we've created our own element of mental health services.

At The Big.

We actually got some city money from the city of Albuquerque from opioid settlement funds.

That's going to allow us to beef up our mental health services.

So there isn't that delay in wait time.

We also think there's got to be a menu of treatment options when it comes to mental health.

One size does not fit all.

I would say if I were in group therapy I might do this and not say a word.

But if I could go into art therapy where I could work with my hands and have somebody who understood that and express myself that way, there's a way to reach them.

So we're really trying to think outside the box with some creativity here.

>> Nash: Okay.

And Barbara, another change in the last year to federal VA benefits in New Mexico is for in-home care.

They've reduced the reimbursement that caregivers receive by 19%.

The VA cited prevailing market rates as the reason for that change.

What is that?

What has that meant for VFW members as far as you've heard?

>> Santillanes: Well, that I know of VFW members and their spouses.

I know that there's state programs that now that they're turning to and they're able to offer.

Now, I myself at the time, we had reached out to a state program that was actually able to help and offer some offset on that home health care.

I can also tell you, the VFW, and I'm sure all of us are aware at this point in time, the VFW is really pushing on the Richard Act, the Richard Star Act, which is huge.

And right now, in fact, as of Sunday night, we have received we're doing mass mailing.

What is the butcher?

Sorry.

It's actually the Richard Star Act is the the act.

That's chapter 61 where they're actually H.R.

2102 is what they're talking about.

And it's offsetting the benefits for the the actual Take Care of America's Veterans Act.

So the particular one that we're looking at and we're saying no to is they have actually says changes to the Veterans Act schedule for rating disabilities.

So what they're trying to do is they're actually removing some of the ratings out of this particular act.

And they're saying, okay, we're going to go ahead and we're going to pay for this, but we don't want to include some of these disabilities and pay for them.

So what we're saying is no, except the whole package.

Don't give us part of it.

>> Nash: Brock, you've mentioned housing already, but I'd like to focus on that as we finish up this conversation.

Veterans are more likely than the overall population to experience homelessness.

New Mexico is also experiencing a housing crisis.

We've got our homes are too expensive and there's not enough of them.

What are you seeing around housing insecurity in New Mexico's veteran population specifically?

>> Wolff: Well, it's really interesting.

A lot of people will think that homeless person has been chronically homeless, but it neglects that a lot of people are a flat tire away from homelessness.

Some economic hardship could make them homeless, and we've seen younger and younger families in that position.

We really I think it's important to not just address those that are homeless, but to prevent homelessness.

And that's a big part of our mission is to stop them from becoming homeless, rapid rehousing, working with landlords that exist.

But the housing stock is always just a huge issue.

And we have housing navigators that are working with landlords throughout the city to really attempt to find those homes, but it is a challenge to match the the the right place, make sure that they're ready and that they have the support to stay there and then really working to help those veterans that do have a home stay in those homes.

And I think it's really important function of what the big does.

>> Nash: What does it look like to help somebody stay housed so that they don't lose shelter, you know, before they end up on the street?

How do you help them stay housed >> Wolff: So a lot of that has to do with negotiating with landlords.

Say there's an eviction process.

We've had veterans that had utility bills, you know, that were high, that we worked with other agencies that have supported us to to find the funds to get those utility bills paid so that they're not struggling with that.

Working with a plan, setting up a plan with landlords to ensure that the payments that they're waiting on happen to deal with the mental health issues that might have happened, that the landlord says, you know, we can't house this person.

>> Nash: Landlords are generally responsive to your outreach to them.

>> Wolff: The ones we work with are angels.

I mean, truly, there is this community in Albuquerque specially, but the statewide is really pro veteran, and we have a lot of landlords that will say for a veteran, we do this.

We wouldn't do this for anybody else.

And we really try to cultivate those relationships and make sure they don't get burned by that trust.

And I think that's where transitional housing is the element that's missing.

If they were to go straight from the streets to their apartment or house, I think there's a lot more struggles than if they have that chance to to get stable.

>> Nash: Sure.

Deputy Secretary James, the state also recently expanded property tax exemptions for for veterans.

How does that work and what kind of impact are you expecting?

>> James: Yeah, particularly proud of the state for what they've done for veteran support.

Just like Brock described all of our agencies and veterans service organizations, you almost look at it like a Venn diagram, right.

And so you're experiencing transitional housing on the state side.

When we administered the the veterans property tax exemption, veterans property tax waiver.

Yeah, the state moved the historical $4,000 reduction of your your your property value.

It moved from $4000 to $10,000.

That was exceptional.

What was even better was they introduced the veterans disability waiver.

And that directly relates to the veterans disability percentage.

And that percentage comes off of their property tax evaluation.

So that's tremendous.

So when you say like what are they doing?

So on the early side is transitional housing.

On the property tax property waiver side, it's keeping people in their homes better funding.

You can more readily pay for it so they won't transition down the pipeline, experience a risk of homelessness.

>> Nash: Great.

Barbara, you mentioned earlier the Take Care of America's Veterans Act and the VFW opposition to it.

Is there any any way that that bill, which is a huge package of like 60 bills running through Congress right now.

Is there a way that that could be retooled in a way that you think would be beneficial, that the VFW would support the package?

>> Santillanes: Well, they need to leave it the way it was originally set up.

>> Nash: And how was that?

>> Santillanes: It was set up where the benefits were not going to be touched.

And they're what they're doing is they're removing they're taking those benefits out on.

Actually it is.

I have it right here.

How convenient it is HR 9237, section 108.

And what they're doing is they're reducing the future veterans disability compensation.

And that's what they're trying to take out of that act.

And we're like, no, you can't do that.

That way we need to continue giving our disability to that.

>> Nash: And so you're advocating for that to change.

Have you heard anything in Congress about the appetite for making that adjustment?

>> Santillanes: We haven't heard anything yet.

We're hitting it hard today, yesterday and today.

We're hitting it hard.

>> Nash: All right.

Great.

Thank you so much for coming on the show to talk about all of the various services and benefits available.

I really appreciate it.

>> Well thank you.

>>Nash: Thanks again to Barbara Santillanes Brock Wolff and deputy Secretary Eric James for helping us honor Veterans Day and everyone else who contributed to the show, and join us here next week when we will hear from the new president of UNM, Steve Goldstein, about his priorities for the state's flagship university.

For New Mexico PBS, I'm Nash Jones.

Until then, stay focused.

Funding for New Mexico in Focus is provided by viewers like you.