For NM kids to count, spend that money on proven programs

In its 2012 budget, New Mexico spent roughly $137 million on programs aimed at helping young children and their families. In 2013, we ranked last in child well-being, according to the annual Kids Count Data Book compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

And so began the concerted effort by advocates and lawmakers alike to invest in our state’s children, especially those in low-income families and at-risk situations.

By fiscal 2019, that spending was up to $306 million — including $64 million for Pre-K to better prepare children for elementary school; $45 million for Family, Infant, Toddler programs to help families with children with developmental delays; $30 million for K-3 Plus to add 25 days to the school year to help children at low-income or low-performing schools in kindergarten through third grade; $23 million for home visiting to educate pregnant women and new parents on caring for children to improve their health and reduce abuse; and $10 million for other programs like early literacy and professional development.

The 2021 Kids Count book, which is based on 2019 numbers, ranks New Mexico 49th in child well-being. (Once again, thank heavens for Mississippi.) Either that extra $169 million wasn’t near enough, or it wasn’t spent on data-driven programs that truly invest in our children’s well-being. Here’s betting it’s a bit of the former and a lot of the latter. On the dollar side of the ledger, in 2020 the Legislature created a $320 million early childhood education trust fund. And in 2021, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, lawmakers and the governor agreed to up the spending on early childhood programs to $500 million. Legislators also approved having voters decide next year if we should tap the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund for even more — roughly another $200 million annually.

So clearly there’s an appetite for increasing spending. The question is, will it continue to leave our children hungry for real improvement?

Before deciding to OK raiding the permanent fund and putting the corpus in jeopardy, the public deserves to know what it’s been getting for the hundreds of millions of its dollars that have been and are being spent on programs to improve child outcomes — and where all this new money will go. (Remember thousands of dollars in federal money is headed to parents as well via the expanded 2021 child tax credit in the American Rescue plan — $300 a month for a child under age 6, $250 a month for children 6 -17.)

According to Kids Count, fewer N.M. children are living in poverty (25% in 2019 vs 31% in 2013). Fewer children have parents who lack secure employment (32% in 2019 vs. 35% in 2013). Fewer teens are not graduating high school on time (25% in 2019 vs. 28% in 2012-13). Fewer children live in families where the head of the household lacks a high school diploma (14% in 2019 vs 18% in 2013). The teen birth rate among 15-19-year-olds is way down (24 births per 1,000 in 2019 vs. 43 per 1,000 in 2013). And more children have medical insurance, likely thanks to Medicaid expansion (just 6% lack coverage in 2019 vs. 9% in 2013). But. It is disturbing to say the least that at the same time the child and teen death rates in our state have skyrocketed (36 deaths per 100,000 in 2019 vs 28 in 2013) and the number of low birthweight babies has increased slightly (9.3% in 2019 vs. 8.9% in 2013). Also unsettling is the number of teens who still are not working and not in school (11% in 2019 vs. 10% in 2013).

And remember this is all before the coronavirus and closures ravaged our education system and economy.

New Mexico has bounced around the very bottom of the overall rankings — 50th in 2013 Kids Count Book; 49th in 2014-17; 50th in 2018, 2019 and 2020; 49th in 2021 — for years. Increasing spending alone hasn’t been enough.

It’s important money goes to programs with proven track records, with the recognition that some initiatives — like longer school years — are unpopular but can truly make a difference.

Lifting kids out of poverty is important. However, New Mexico needs to ensure all it is pouring into our children’s future really translates into better long-term outcomes.