“The big challenges in those areas are connecting to the folks who we know are likely to be undercounted,” said Amber Wallin, deputy director of New Mexico Voices for Children. “So people who may be poor or housing-insecure can be a real challenge in those areas, especially in communities that are changing.”
"With that potential citizenship question in there it was pretty clear that was intended to have a dampening impact on the willingness of particularly the immigrant population, but also others, to participate in the census," said Jimenez. Jimenez said New Mexico already leads the country with the highest hard-to-count populations.
The Kids Count report found that 18% of the nation’s children live in poverty, down from the Great Recession. But the same advances weren’t seen in the Southwest, where many children are Native Americans, Latinos and immigrants who have long faced disadvantages. “The nation’s racial inequities remain deep, systemic and stubbornly persistent,” said the annual Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The nonprofit New Mexico Voices For Children recently issued a news release that cites an estimate that the feds will have as much as a $1 billion shortfall to pay for the count, along with the dire prediction that “Trump’s underfunding … is likely to hurt NM.”
Hosts Chris Ramirez and Nathan O'Neal discussed what's in store for New Mexico's children. From the 2020 census to the bills working through the Roundhouse right now, there are many impacts on the future generations. Featured on the show are James Jimenez and Amber Wallin with New Mexico Voices for Children.
Pediatric society president Brian Etheridge said it’s a resource for voters to hear from candidates on more detailed questions. "What we're trying to do is draw attention to various issues that obviously affect children," Etheridge said.
“Unfortunately, children are not necessarily a topic of conversation when it comes to elections. People talk about jobs and the economy, which are all very important to child well-being, but there are other issues and we wanted to get some of those out there,” said Sharon Kayne, communications director for NM Voices.
“That means that New Mexico will receive fewer Medicaid dollars, fewer SNAP dollars, fewer Title 1 grants for schools, less money for our school lunch program, and less funding for Head Start,” said Amber Wallin, deputy director of New Mexico Voices for Children.
“While the bright spots are encouraging, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the state is failing Black children in many ways,” said James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, in a statement. “This report provides us a research-based focus on how we better support Black children and families in New Mexico.”
ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. – A new report out today says the vast majority of children in New Mexico lag behind other kids across the nation when it comes to achieving their future potential. The Annie E. Casey Foundation's second Race for Results report in three years measured key milestones in child development across racial and ethnic groups. The foundation tracks progress on education, health and economic success at national and state levels.