Involved

NMDWS and other agencies have engaged with a cohort of young parents to understand what services and support these families need. In response to this gatherings/discussions, departments are working on improving non-standard office hours, improving accessibility of One- Stop Workforce Connection Centers, and other specified needs to best support young parents.

Youth who have a high level of support from a caring and responsible adult in the home, in the school, or in the community, and those who have a caring relationship with a friend their own age, are less likely to engage in high risk
behaviors than youth who do not have these strong relationships. Among youth in NM, most youth found supportive relationships with family or with peers.

New Mexico CTE concentrators (students who take two or more courses in an identified CTE program of study) had a 97.7% graduation rate in 21-22, and this incredible rate held high across at-risk subgroups. Increased funding for CTE has allowed NM to triple its investment directly into CTE classrooms, nearly quadruple the number of Innovation Zone sites, and includes BIE and triballycontrolled schools that have access to CTE opportunities for the first time.

Within the Career and Technical Education bureau, the Innovation Zones Initiative brings together cutting-edge program initiatives and funding that are often siloed or disconnected. It supports the integration of graduate profiles, capstones, CTE, work-based learning, and personalized supports. These innovations ensure that young people have multiple paths and models to find the career fit that best suit their interests and talents.

Funded to support employment and training activities for pueblo and tribal communities, NMDWS is working collaboratively with INAs to align workforce system development activities within their communities. Partnership activities include technical assistance and training; coordination of economic development activities; and specific sector strategies to ensure that tribal and pueblo members are included in employment and training services.

New Mexico Arts held the State Finals of Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest on March 5, 2023. The event featured students from seven schools from across New Mexico including student performers, Pueblo Pojoaque Youth Hoop Dancers and Zaphica, student jazz combo from New Mexico School for the Arts. School participants from Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Montezuma, Rio Rancho, and Wagon Mound participated. More than 500 students participated in Poetry Out Loud during in-school competitions.

Rutendo Musharu, a senior at United World College-USA was named state champion at the event and she represented New Mexico at the Western Regionals portion of the Poetry Out Loud National Finals, held in Washington D.C., March 8-10, 2023. She advanced to the final round of regionals, placing her in the top 24 of students from 50 US states and 6 jurisdictions. Poetry Out Loud 2024 registration opens in September for New Mexico schools.

The mission of the New Mexico Economic Development Department is to improve the lives of New Mexico families by increasing economic opportunities and providing a place for businesses to thrive. Since January 2019 when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham assumed office, the EDD has focused on increasing wages and benefits throughout the state by using the State of New Mexico financing and business assistance programs. Incentivizing jobs in the state with higher wages and full benefits is one way the EDD is able to improve and support the well-being of New Mexico’s children. EDD through the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Office has also supported other programs and organizations like accelerators and family focused organizations that help enable childcare training and policies that incorporate childhood wellbeing and care. EDD intends that individuals who are able to work have the opportunity to find quality work with good wages and benefits more easily as a result of the department’s efforts, thus providing a better quality of life for New Mexico’s children. Part of EDD’s mission statement reads “to improve the lives of New Mexico families,” and the administration continues to actively seek new ways to improve the well-being of children and their parents throughout the state.