The percentage of children whose parents lack job security worsened significantly in the most recent report — rising from 26 percent of the juvenile population in 2019 to 33 percent in 2021 — a total that includes 233,000 youths. Fourth graders not proficient in reading, and child and teen deaths per 100,000, also worsened in Nevada between 2019 and 2022.

“We want Nevadans to move out of poverty and climb that economic ladder,” Tara Raines, a licensed psychologist and deputy director at Children’s Advocacy Alliance, said in an interview with The Nevada Independent this week. “Not having access to high-quality child care, where folks can trust that their kids will learn, trust that their kids will be cared for, trust that their kids will be nurtured, is really going to make it difficult for [parents] to be present at work, both physically and mentally.”

Welborn said her work experience has shown how issues, such as children’s behavioral and mental health issues and housing stability, the minimum wage, or providing meals for kids, are interconnected with early childhood and juvenile justice.

An independent report commissioned by Nevada's governor and legislative leaders has recommended an action that inmate advocacy groups long supported but was never implemented — that the state should deliberately reduce its prison population to address current and future pandemics. 

While prisons have long struggled to fill positions and rely heavily on overtime to provide 24/7 staffing, several prison staffers said the situation is worse now than they have ever seen it before, to the point that they fear for their safety.

On Monday, a spokesperson for Sisolak confirmed that the governor plans to sign the bill into law, calling them “fair maps that represent Nevada’s diversity and reflect public feedback.”

The move addresses data gaps advocates warned could lead to an imbalance of power between rural and urban communities and place the state in violation of a 2019 state ban on a practice known as “prison gerrymandering."

Community leaders note the growth of Nevada's minority populations and say that new district maps must reflect the state's increasing diversity.

“You should make any effort to take appropriate channels to get that handled within an hour because a person in that [dungeon] — it’s irreparable damage," said activist Jagada Chambers.

In an attempt to bridge the gap, Nevada Assembly lawmakers on Wednesday approved AB376, which allocates $500,000 in state funds for the UNLV Immigration Clinic to expand its no-cost legal resources for immigrants.

Trade groups representing property owners came out in strong opposition against the measure. Their opposition was summed up by Southern Nevada property manager Molly Hamrick, who said the bill would only serve to “keep landlords from providing a product in the marketplace that tenants desperately need.”

Lawmakers this session are seeking to further separate the juvenile justice system from the adult criminal justice system at nearly every level, with legislation aimed at reducing referrals into the system, promoting rehabilitation programs and housing young offenders separately.

Even though quotas for tickets or arrests aren’t written down in official policy, representatives of police unions told lawmakers that many agencies still operate under a cultural assumption that the more tickets issued or more arrests made, the better.

Lawmakers are considering a bill brought forward by Attorney General Aaron Ford that would limit but not ban no-knock arrest and search warrants, though a proposed amendment with further restrictions has complicated support for the legislation.

While the state budget is sure to dominate discussions during the ongoing legislative session, lawmakers haven’t shied from queuing up some heavy-hitting proposals for criminal justice reform.

“This isn't about partisan politics. It's about fighting for the survival of people and seeing the humanity in those who are not defined by the worst thing they've ever done,” said Leslie Turner of the Mass Liberation Project, which is affiliated with the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada. “And we all should believe that COVID-19 shouldn't be a death sentence for anyone, including those who are incarcerated.”

Although lobbyists and members of the public have been barred from the physical legislative building, a host of interest groups are making their demands known and pushing for their priorities to be included in the proclamation that will establish the parameters of what lawmakers can consider in their second special session. Gov. Steve Sisolak is expected to call the next session once lawmakers finish finalizing cuts to the state budget during the first special session, which started Wednesday.

Law enforcement officials from both Washoe and Clark counties have characterized the majority of protesters as peaceful. Still, both police departments have deployed large groups of officers in tactical gear, prepared to launch tear gas and projectiles.

In an email to The Nevada Independent, state transportation officials said that the cleanup was part of an effort to protect public and water quality safety, but that they had suspended it in order to reduce movement and potential virus spread.

More than 20 organizations signed on to a letter last week calling on Sisolak to issue a statewide moratorium on evictions to provide peace of mind to renters, who comprise 45 percent of Nevada households, and replace a confusing patchwork of orders from individual local courts offering varied levels of relief to tenants.