by Rick Nathanson, Albuquerque Journal
June 17, 2019
For the third time in seven years, New Mexico came in dead last out of 50 states for child well-being, according to the 2019 Kids Count Data Book, released Monday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The state was ranked 50th in 2013 and again last year, continuing in to this year.
Louisiana was ranked 49th this year, bumping Mississippi up to 48th. New Hampshire was ranked first.
“It’s disappointing, but not terribly surprising to see New Mexico ranked at the bottom again, given the last 10 years,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, which runs the state’s Kids Count program. “It is going to take sustained investment to undo the damage from a decade of underfunding all of our child-serving programs and services like health care, child care and K-12 education.”
Read more in the Albuquerque Journal