Report: Child welfare advocates cite reasons for optimism despite rising rates of death, abuse
Santa Fe New Mexican--"All of these common-sense decisions ... not only prevented a significant decline in well-being for New Mexico kids and families, but it also laid a strong foundation for us to continue seeing improvements in many indicators of child well-being in the 2022 data," Wildau said.
2023 New Mexico KIDS COUNT Data Book
NM KIDS COUNT Data Book Child well-being is slowly improving in New Mexico, thanks to investments by our lawmakers. This annual report provides data on numerous child well-being indicators related to economic security, education, health, and family and community, and includes policy solutions. New this year are indicators related to environmental health. (State-, county-, tribal- and school district-level data on child well-being.)
NM KIDS COUNT Data Book: Child Well-being Generally Improving
Child well-being in New Mexico appears to be slowly improving. As history has shown us, fighting poverty is a policy choice. This was made clear by the pandemic-era changes in the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC). The CTC expansion led to the largest decrease in national child poverty on record. Not only did child poverty dramatically decline, but the gaps between the poverty rates for children of color and those for white children also narrowed. Not surprisingly, the year after the federal CTC expansion expired, the gaps in poverty by race and ethnicity widened again. Still, child poverty in New Mexico remains lower than it did a decade ago.
Guv outlines some health priorities on state spending
NM Political Report--Jordan said Lujan Grisham’s budget asks for a significant increase in Medicaid to increase provider reimbursement rates. He said the state has significantly raised Medicaid reimbursement rates over the last few legislative sessions. He said the industry is very competitive and he said the provider shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic created a “wake-up call.”
Early childhood department requests $800 million from state budget
NM Political Report--Bill Jordan, interim co-director and government relations officer for New Mexico Voices for Children, said one of the nonprofit’s legislative priorities for 2024 is to see full funding for early childhood services. He said NMVC doesn’t want to see lawmakers slack off on expanding early childcare services now that the 1.25 percent additional distribution from the Land Grant Permanent Fund is helping to expand ECECD’s services.
Report: In New Mexico, Children of Color are the Majority, but Face Disparate Outcomes Jeopardizing Their Well-Being
Children of color in New Mexico make up the majority of kids, yet overall, they fall behind their peers nationwide and face disparate outcomes compared to kids who are Asian and Pacific Islander and white in New Mexico, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2024 Race for Results report.