New Mexicans should help create a better life for kids

Is New Mexico the best place to be a kid? For too many kids, it’s not. The poverty rate here for children is higher than in any other U.S. state. The teen birth rate is second highest in the nation. Of course, that is a circular problem that feeds itself. The state ranks third for children experiencing food insecurity and for having one parent who at some point has been incarcerated.

The state Children, Youth and Families Department, under the direction of Secretary Monique Jacobson, wants to improve those statistics. The department has launched Pull-Together, a $2.7 million statewide campaign to encourage individuals and communities to put their collective hearts and hands together to improve the quality of life for New Mexico children.

The effort will be highly reliant upon establishing grass-roots community hubs where people get the word out about available services and programs that can help children and families in their communities. A resource and referral phone line and a website provides information to people who want to help and to those who need help. The website includes parenting tips, suggestions for low- to no-cost family activities, and a list of specific services and programs in communities around the state — including child care and home visiting.

The campaign also features a statewide advertising blitz encouraging all New Mexicans to “make New Mexico the best place to be a kid.” Funding is from early childhood funds unspent by contract providers.

Some skeptics say Pull-Together isn’t enough and the state should be spending more money on benefit programs and getting more people enrolled. They advocate taking money from the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund. But the state already is spending about $200 million on early childhood programs, including home visits. The state already offers universal full-day kindergarten and extensive pre-K programs. Raiding the fund would be an imprudent move that would put a serious dent in the state’s future revenue stream.

Pull-Together is intended to raise awareness of New Mexico children’s plight using available resources — both by pointing out where those who need help can find it and in reminding the rest that we all have a role in making things better. How can that be bad?