Fiscal impact reports (FIRs) are prepared by the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) for standing finance
committees of the NM Legislature. The LFC does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of these reports
if they are used for other purposes.
Current FIRs (in HTML & Adobe PDF formats) are a vailable on the NM Legislative Website (legis.state.nm.us).
Adobe PDF versions include all attachments, whereas HTML versions may not. Previously issued FIRs and
attachments may be obtained from the LFC in Suite 101 of the State Capitol Building North.
F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Morales
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/25/08
HB
SHORT TITLE Big Brothers Big Sisters Youth Mentoring Day
SM 28
ANALYST Shaya
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Memorial 28 declares Friday, January 25, 2008, “Big Brothers Big Sisters Youth
Mentoring Day" in the New Mexico State Senate.
The Memorial provides the following statements about the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs:
•
More boys and girls in New Mexico than ever before grow up in circumstances that
place them at severe risk of dropping out of school, youth crime and violence, drug and
alcohol abuse and teen pregnancy.
•
The Big Brothers Big Sisters mission is to bring caring adults into the lives of young
people in order to prevent destructive behavior and instill positive values and life skills.
•
Science-based research has shown that a young person who is matched with a Big
Brother or Big Sister volunteer is:
o
forty-six percent less likely to start using illegal drugs;
o
twenty-seven percent less likely to start drinking;
o
fifty-two percent less likely to skip a day of school;
o
thirty-seven percent less likely to skip a class; and
o
less likely to engage in violence.
•
The positive impact of Big Brothers Big Sisters has proved that one adult caring for one
child is the most powerful force to keep young people in school, off drugs and alcohol
and out of trouble with the law.
•
New Mexico's Big Brothers Big Sisters programs and its school-based partners have
grown twice as fast as the national average, increasing the number of youth matched with
adults by nearly sixty percent; to three thousand one hundred big-little matches in the past
year.
•
With waiting lists for all of its programs and a torrent of requests from unserved counties
in New Mexico, the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs in New Mexico are committed to
bringing its life changing program to all children in the state, regardless of where they
reside.