It was pushing toward 1 p.m. Monday and Donna DeMarco was still cooking hamburgers and hot dogs for a dozen or so kids and their relatives at Franklin Miles Park. It was no ordinary barbecue for family and friends.
Because poverty has multiple causes and tends to be generational, we must address it by meeting the needs of the family as a whole. This is called a two-generation approach, and it does more than ensure that children are fed and safe. It also gives parents the tools they need to better their own situations—whether that means access to job training and further education or health care to deal with substance abuse problems or chronic illness.
New Mexico is moving forward with a broad range of cuts in reimbursements to hospitals, physicians, dentists and other providers who serve Medicaid patients across the state. The cuts would take some $30 million in state money out of the insurance program that serves 761,000 New Mexicans, but that would be amplified with the loss of federal matching money...
The notion of all of New Mexico pulling together to help children is worthwhile. Now, there’s a state-run campaign to do that by raising awareness of how to prevent child abuse. The campaign has a catchy name — Pull Together. It’s an effort to bring attention to the dismal reality so many of the state’s children face every day. But let’s not confuse style with substance.
Considering statistics say one in every five New Mexico families lives in poverty, it’s possible to wrap our heads around the idea that someone we know is going hungry or isn’t sure where their next meal is coming from.
I am grateful to U.S. District Judge Kenneth Gonzales, who, early in March, issued an injunction to prevent the Human Services Department from imposing work requirements for those enrolled in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Veronica Garcia, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, said losing wages to recover from an illness or care for a child becomes more threatening when monthly earnings are already low.
In the next legislative session, New Mexico Voices for Children plans to lobby lawmakers for a bill requiring paid sick leave for all private sector workers in the state. (The group says nearly all public sector workers have paid sick leave.) Executive director Veronica C. García says “no parent should ever have to make the terrible choice between paying their bills and caring for a sick child.”
“You are about to make very serious decisions that will impact the health of the state and the economy of the state,” said Bill Jordan of New Mexico Voices for Children.
New Mexico has the lowest rate in the nation of workers with paid sick leave, according to New Mexico Voices for Children, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advocating for policies to improve the health and well-being of New Mexico’s children, families and communities.