Recognizing Veronica Krupnick

Floor Speech

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Ms. STANSBURY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Veronica Krupnick of Santa Fe, New Mexico, who was selected by Casey Excellence for Children Awards to receive the 2024 Alumni Award. Veronica is the first Indigenous person to have been selected for this great honor. She is an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona and has Jemez Pueblo and Navajo Nation heritage.

Veronica is a mentor, a leader, and an unwavering advocate for children and youth in New Mexico's child welfare system. Drawing upon her own experience in the foster care system, Veronica's advocacy and mentorship centers around the importance of connecting children and youth in the child welfare system to their cultural identities, communities, and traditions. Last year, she played a crucial role in upholding the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which was under threat by a case heard before the Supreme Court. The ICWA mandates that when the government seeks foster and adoption placement for a child who is a member of or eligible for membership in an Indian Tribe, it must give preference to those with kin or Tribal relationships to the child. In the decades since it was enacted, the ICWA has been labeled the gold standard of child welfare policy. This law consistently establishes best practices to protect Indigenous children and preserve the integrity of Indigenous cultures and identities.

Veronica currently serves as the Leadership Analyst for the Majority Leader in the New Mexico House of Representatives. In addition, she is the Vice President of the Board of Directors of Court-Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA), First Judicial District, a senior member of the National Foster Youth and Alumni Policy Council, a member of the National Child Welfare and Racial Equity (CWARE) Collaborative, and the Co-Chair of the Training Committee for the New Mexico Partners.

Veronica works tirelessly to give a voice to children and youth in Tribal families, and in New Mexico as a whole, that are impacted by the child welfare system. I would like to thank Veronica for working every day as a champion to instill hope in our future generations.

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