Frances Varela
The most formative and crucial years for the development of children are from the womb to the kindergarten classroom. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis researchers identified that investing in early childhood development programs like high-quality early care and education, Pre-K, and home visitation programs produces an annual rate of return of 10-16 percent, of which 80 percent accrues to the general public.
According to New Mexico Voices For Children, New Mexico spends less than 1 percent of its state budget on these earliest years.
So why are the governor and the Legislature cutting programs targeted to promoting the wellbeing of New Mexico’s youngest children? Aren’t these children more precious to us than even our state permanent fund? Why aren’t cuts being proposed to the corrections budget?
According to Fight Crime: Invest in Kids – a New Mexico organization of law enforcement officials and others – in 2010 in New Mexico, there were over 16,000 incarcerated adults in jails and state prisons, with corrections costs exceeding $320 million every year. Attorney General King said New Mexico would save about $80 million in taxpayer dollars if it cut prison costs by a quarter by investing in early childhood development programs.
A year of state lock-up costs taxpayers $31,000 a year in New Mexico. With this amount we could support three little ones in high-quality early childhood development programs.
Attorney General Gary King says: “We have a choice: Either we pay now or we’ll pay much more down the road. I hope we can keep these investments in early education in place to avoid real budget busters 10 or 20 years from now.” So what is being cut?
Child-care assistance
The CYFD-run child-care assistance program provides child-care subsidies to low-income working families. The proposed child care assistance budget is 2 percent less than last year and 19 percent less than two years ago. Under this proposal, there would be:
- A waiting list for families over 100 percent of the poverty level.
- A 4 percent reduction in provider rates.
- A 10 percent increase in co-pays for parents.
- Grandfathering-in of current participants who are above 100 percent of the poverty level – but the LFC budget cuts off the 900 families who are between 150 percent and 200 percent of poverty. $3 million is needed to keep these families enrolled (as included in the proposed executive budget).
An estimated $17 million is needed to serve the 4,435 children on the waiting list.
If we don’t support families with child-care subsidies
Families who can’t afford child care but have to work will be forced to place their children in unsafe home environments that contribute nothing to their child’s development or to school readiness.
Little kids will be sat in front of TV sets. They will come to kindergarten not knowing their shapes, colors, and numbers; unable to use basic learning tools like pencils, pens, crayons, and markers; their vocabularies will be far behind those children who have had high quality early care and education experiences.
Some of the environments young children will be placed in are down right unsafe. Children have died in New Mexico because of substandard child care – like the little toddler whose mother suddenly had her child-care subsidy cut off because she got a small raise. She left her 3 year old with her 11 year old in desperation. The 3 year old went outside and drowned in the little swimming pool in the backyard.
Some families will have to leave their jobs and be forced back into poverty or on welfare. Families will be spending a third of their income per child and will have to make choices between food, housing and child care.
With lower provider rates and cuts to the state budget, child-care centers are starting to close their doors. In a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort said, “We are losing (private) centers even as we speak. We have lost three centers in Las Cruces in the last few weeks and will lose two in Albuquerque soon.”
If we don’t support and expand Pre-K
The Pre-K program in New Mexico is slated for a 16 percent cut in the executive budget and 4 percent cut in the LFC budget. These proposed cuts are on top of last year’s 23 percent reduction for a program that a recent evaluation demonstrates has improved literacy and math skills.
A majority of New Mexico’s 4 year olds will not have the opportunity to get ready for school and to learn the critical social, emotional and cognitive skills that will prepare them for school success. Research shows that if young children are behind in their development at age six, it is very difficult for them to ever catch up and succeed in school by age 18.
Home visitation
New Mexico home visitation at this time maintains a very minimal investment and serves few of New Mexico’s new families. Without it, families will not have the critical support at the birth of their infant to learn crucial parenting practices and skills.
It’s raining today
We need to create the foundation for school and future economic success by investing in high-quality early childhood development programs, and we need to invest in our children now.
Our youngest children don’t vote, don’t have high-priced lobbyists contributing to campaigns, and can’t wine and dine legislators and other policy-makers – so they have no voice. It is raining today. We need to consider taking more of the interest from our permanent fund to assure that our babies, toddlers and preschoolers have all the opportunities – no matter where they live – to succeed and become contributing members of our New Mexico community.
Frances Varela is a small business owner in Albuquerque.