Building Family Assets, Food Assistance Applications

New Mexico in Focus presents the mini-documentary “Building Family Assets” in this week’s program. The segment is part of the national Chasing the Dream initiative. “Building Family Assets” puts a human face on how access to education and savings accounts can help change the lives of New Mexico families.

In recent weeks, a group of current and former employees who processed food assistance applications for the Human Services Department testified in federal court that their supervisors instructed them to falsify applications to deny benefits to people who qualified for emergency assistance. Joey Peters, senior reporter for NM Political Report, sits down with producer Sarah Gustavus this week to share his observations from a hearing in Las Cruces.

Host Gene Grant and this week’s Line opinion panelists discuss the food benefits controversy, PAC spending in one of the races for the Bernalillo County Commission, and drug stings undertaken in recent years by the Albuquerque Police Department.

Guests:
Joey Peters, NM Political Report

Line Panelists:
Mark Boitano, former Republican state lawmaker
Martha Burk, a political psychologist and author
Alicia Manzano, Strategies 360
Dan McKay, reporter for the Albuquerque Journal

Correspondent:
Sarah Gustavus
Stan Wilson

Host:
Gene Grant

The Producer of NEW MEXICO IN FOCUS is Sarah Gustavus. Associate Producer is Kathy Wimmer. Funding for this program was provided in part by the McCune Foundation Communications Fund, Santa Fe Community Foundation.

Episode 946 airs May 20, 2016 at 7:00pm on Ch.5.1