Kids Count Blog

Jun 09 2025

Once again, N.M. ranks 50th for kids; this must change

Alex McCausland2025-06-12T18:18:02-06:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Economic Security News Coverage, Education News Coverage, Health Blog, Health News Coverage, Kids Count Blog, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage, Racial and Ethnic Equity Blog, Racial and Ethnic Equity News Coverage, Tax and Budget Blog, Tax and Budget News Coverage|

Santa Fe New Mexican--New Mexicans are a people of strength, resilience and deep-rooted pride — shaped by our commitment to community and our dedication to the well-being of families. That’s why it’s painful to reconcile our values with the news in this week’s release of state rankings on child well-being from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual Kids Count Data Book. Once again, New Mexico is ranked 50th. Two things are true: Progress takes time — and our children can’t afford to wait.

Jan 21 2025

New Mexico Voices for Children Releases 2024 New Mexico KIDS COUNT Data Book

Alex McCausland2025-01-24T22:46:42-07:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Education Blog, Health Blog, Kids Count Blog|

January 21, 2025 As child advocates, we strive for long-term, sustainable change and rely on data to understand which policies will most effectively meet the needs of our families. To support Legislators as they [...]

Sep 25 2023

Census data shows us poverty is a policy choice

Web Admin2023-09-25T10:09:26-06:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Kids Count Blog, Tax and Budget Blog|

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic assistance policies like the expanded federal Child Tax Credit resulted in a record decline in child poverty. Now, with the end of COVID-era assistance, the nation saw a record increase in child poverty – clearly showing us that poverty is a policy choice.

Jun 17 2023

Why the State’s ranking shouldn’t get you down

Web Admin2023-06-20T15:48:59-06:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Economic Security News Coverage, Education Blog, Education News Coverage, Health Blog, Health News Coverage, Kids Count Blog, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage|

Las Cruces Sun-News--The fact is, New Mexico has made some extraordinary headway in improving opportunities for kids in recent years. Some of it’s made nationwide headlines. Our investments in child care assistance, voter-approved expansion of early childhood services, and child-focused tax policy improvements all received national accolades.

Aug 21 2022

New Mexico can move forward on education with heart

Web Admin2023-02-14T13:46:24-07:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Economic Security News Coverage, Education Blog, Education News Coverage, Health Blog, Health News Coverage, Kids Count Blog, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage|

Santa Fe New Mexican--New Mexico voters can also take action by voting Yes on Constitutional Amendment 1 on the ballot in November. Constitutional Amendment 1 would draw down a small portion of the $26 billion permanent school fund to support high-quality early childhood care and education services - such as home visiting and pre-kindergarten - and services for at-risk students.

Feb 02 2022

Data shows New Mexico families struggle with basic expenses

Web Admin2023-02-14T14:09:06-07:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Economic Security News Coverage, Education Blog, Education News Coverage, Health Blog, Health News Coverage, Kids Count Blog, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage|

Albuquerque Journal--New Mexico’s leaders have taken many actions to protect and support children and families through this uncertainty, including hunger relief funding, emergency economic relief for those left out of federal stimulus payments, a new paid-sick-leave policy, and an increase and expansion of the Working Families Tax Credit, which will put money in the hands of families who will spend it quickly and locally to provide for their children’s basic needs.

Jun 27 2021

Pre-pandemic improvement in child well-being a glimpse at what investments can do

Web Admin2023-02-14T14:38:38-07:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Economic Security News Coverage, Education Blog, Education News Coverage, Health Blog, Health News Coverage, Kids Count Blog, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage|

Las Cruces Sun-News--Incremental improvements show us both that progress is possible and also that creating the nurturing environments our kids deserve and need to thrive will require bold and sustained actions and investments.

Jul 15 2020

Still at 50th, New Mexico must continue to invest in our kids in hard times

Web Admin2021-01-06T16:06:44-07:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Education Blog, Health Blog, Kids Count Blog|

New Mexico’s 50th ranking in child well-being is the result of a decade of austerity due to choices lawmakers made during the last recession. In 2019 and early 2020, Lawmakers began to put the state on the right path for our kids. The pandemic and current recession do not need to derail us.

Jan 15 2019

Changing the course on child well-being

Web Admin2019-01-15T15:15:28-07:00Blog Posts, Economic Security Blog, Education Blog, Health Blog, Kids Count Blog, Tax and Budget Blog|

The past decade of austerity has been hard on New Mexico’s children. Still, we are optimistic about the future because we believe in the strength and resiliency of New Mexico’s families. We know we can build stronger communities and support more resilient families and children so that they can thrive. But we can only build a stronger New Mexico if our policymakers are willing to provide the revenue we need to make these investments.

Oct 22 2018

Local conference will focus on childhood trauma

Web Admin2024-04-04T15:34:13-06:00Blog Posts, Health Blog, Health News Coverage, Kids Count Blog, Kids Count News Coverage, News Coverage|

Las Cruces Sun-News--This year’s conference Childhood Trauma: From Symptoms to Systems Change, will take a hard look at ACEs – what causes them, what can be done to prevent them, and how we can promote resiliency. We will look at the importance of building trauma-informed practices throughout our agencies and organizations.