46 percent of New Mexico’s young children, ages zero to four, receive benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.That is the highest percentage of any state in the country for this age range.
“It is an unfortunate reflection that our economy has not been doing well for many years,” said James Jimenez, executive director for New Mexico’s Voices for Children.
Jimenez said the economic policies New Mexico has been pursuing for the last several years have been a failure, by way of not providing the caliber of jobs the people need to put enough food on the table.
“It's a worrisome statistic,” he said. “It causes some concern in the context that the program is being operated efficiently and effectively, so that families that need assistance to put food on the table get that assistance.”
Lisa Cacari-Stone, associate professor of health and social policy at UNM’s College of Population Health, called the situation an unfortunate one.
She also said that the current structure of SNAP has led to issues, and the fact that the New Mexico Human Service Department failed to correct problems regarding SNAP eligibility and benefits doesn’t help.
“The glooming priority as a state is to develop viable policy solutions to address poverty, through economic development and opportunities that would enable parents and families to provide food, clothing and shelter and other basic needs for their children,” she said.
Jimenez said the economic policies New Mexico has been pursuing over the last few years has been focused on tax cuts as a way to lure businesses to the state — and it has been a dismal failure.
“What's happening is because of the fact that the state doesn't have enough money to support the kind of programs that really help businesses grow, like ensuring we have a good trained high-quality workforce,” he said.
Cacari-Stone said the state must look to other sustainable options beyond gas and oil to feed New Mexico’s economy, and that SNAP is an evidenced-based social safety net that significantly supports the 30 percent of children in NM who live below the poverty level.
“It is the role of government in assuring population health regardless of a red or blue political affiliation — it's a public imperative to assure equity in access to health and social benefits for all New Mexico's children,” she said.
Both Cacari-Stone and Jimenez emphasized the importance of the nutritious food the SNAP program provides to many families who are in need.
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“Nutritious food is a basic human need and determinant of child health and success in life,” Cacari-Stone said.
Receiving the right nutrition is important in particular for children because of the impact it can have on brain development and behavior, Jimenez said.
“Children go to school hungry every single day, and it's going to cause them to behave in ways that are probably not the most productive. So the SNAP benefits can help make sure students show up in elementary school, middle school or high school so they are well-positioned to learn,” he said. “It's hard to learn when your stomach is growling all day long.”
Jimenez said when children lose some or all of their SNAP benefits, they are more likely to have poor health outcomes as families are more likely to forgo medical care, making a trade-off with what resources they have and choosing between buying medicine or buying food.
To work on a solution, Cacari-Stone said it’s important to view SNAP as part of the war on poverty. She said there is a need to focus on economic development and security as a major element of population health, while assuring that the safety net is intact.
Cacari-Stone said that, while the state has had previous issues in administering SNAP dating back to the 1980s, the biggest mishaps have happened under the current administration and are rooted in a political viewpoint.
“There's been a systematic pattern of delaying needed social and health benefits to our neediest children and families under Gov. (Susana) Martinez's administration, including expanding the work requirements for SNAP without diligent viable options for economic development, and growing job opportunities that allow our families to support themselves financially," she said.
Cacari-Stone said that despite what Martinez says, her actions, including her economic agenda, demonstrate that children have not been a priority for the governor.
UNM involvement
Cacari-Stone currently has three graduate students conducting an analysis of the state’s SNAP program, along with recent state leadership's mishandling and delaying of eligibility and benefits.
Noura El Habbal, Neil Greene and Tae-young Nam — studying nutrition, sociology and public health, respectively — will use the analysis to create their final policy brief by Dec. 9, and will be attending the New Mexico Public Health Association's annual Legislative Health Policy Forum.
“The students chose the topic because it has real-time policy impact on equity issues facing children and families, and that’s exactly what we want our UNM students to be engaging in,” Cacari-Stone said.
The students’ report will focus on the need for SNAP among children and families, the link between SNAP and children’s health and well-being, and the role of government as a political determinant of health.
Cacari-Stone said her students’ analysis also focuses on what other states are doing that has proven to be successful, and how New Mexico can assure that there are streamlined and timely eligibility determination processes and transparency and accountability in regards to SNAP.
Jimenez said, to begin fixing the problems, the Human Resources Department needs to do a much better job of managing the program.
This means ensuring families who are eligible will get the benefits. He explained that, in the short-term, the economy is still not providing the jobs that the state needs, and over a longer period New Mexico will need a different economic development policy that helps train workers and invests more in the workforce.
Ultimately, Jimenez said the SNAP program is used by families during transitional periods such as a job loss, or help for when medical costs lead to families not being able to buy food.
He encouraged families who currently rely or have relied on these programs to tell their stories, including UNM students who may be parents of children that rely on them now.
“Americans tend to be a very giving people and want to help support people through bad times,” he said. “At the same time we're kind of a very individualistic society and we want to make sure that people are doing the things they can do to help get themselves back on their feet. So when people can hear the stories about how SNAP helped families get through particularly troubled times, I think it builds support for SNAP and other programs like it.”
Nichole Harwood is a news reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nolidoli1.
