ALBUQUERQUE N.M. – Children's advocates say too many hard-working New Mexico families struggle with the "cliff effect" when trying to pay for child care and move up the income ladder.

The "cliff effect" can force parents to decline a pay increase, if it would push their income over 200 percent of the federal poverty level and end their childcare assistance. A new report from New Mexico Voices for Children says it generally means a single parent with two children would need about 20 percent more pay to be able to give up the assistance and still cover childcare.

Sharon Kayne, communications director with the group, says public benefits should help a family reach financial security.

"So that once they go off of the public benefits, they're doing much better,” says Kayne. “But in this case, there's actually a disincentive, because if you do just a little bit better, it throws you back into poverty."

The state's Children, Youth and Families Department held public hearings this week on how to spend $20 million from a federal block grant. Voices for Children says it should be used to "fix the cliff" and expand eligibility for childcare assistance. The CYFD has said it plans to spend the money on outreach.

Kayne says New Mexico has set its eligibility level at 200 percent of the federal poverty level for childcare assistance, while other states do more to help families advance.

"You know, it's surprising that as one of the poorest states in the nation, that we are not supporting our working families as well as many of the other states,” says Kayne.

According to Kayne, parents faced with the "cliff effect" who want a raise from the boss to propel their career forward, sometimes have to choose lower-quality childcare.

"Childcare is very expensive; it is more expensive than tuition at UNM,” says Kayne. “So, you know, these are generally young parents who are starting out, and they simply don't have the kind of income that allows them to either have high-quality childcare, or have one parent stay home and take care of kids."

The report shows a typical family of three can receive childcare assistance when they're earning about $40,000 a year, with childcare co-pays taking about 18 percent of their income. But if they earned one dollar more, all assistance would end, and childcare would require 38 percent of their paycheck.



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October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a recent study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about life prospects.

The study, published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence found students who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about both academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.

Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.

"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."

Maryland requires county boards of education to track and report on bullying. This year's report showed there were more than 7,800 incidences of bullying reported during the 2022-23 school year, an increase of 25% over the year prior.

Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Earlier research showed relational victimization had negative effects on elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also an educational priority.

"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence based large scale school interventions for bullying."

Maryland's State Department of Education adopted a model policy to address bullying, harassment and intimidation in 2009 and has updated it in the years since. Last year the department began offering an online introduction to bullying prevention for educators.


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October is National Bullying Prevention Month and a new study showed teens bullied in high school tend to become pessimistic about their future.

Researchers found adolescents who experienced relational bullying were more likely to develop depressive symptoms and over time became more pessimistic about academics and career prospects beyond high school. Relational bullying includes things like starting rumors, being deliberately ignored and exclusion from group activities.

Hannah L. Schacter, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University in Detroit, said a student's perception of social inadequacy can spread into other parts of life.

"You're receiving a message from your peers that you are someone who doesn't deserve positive treatment, and that may then generalize to these other life domains," Schacter explained. "Now you expect that you're not going to be able to do well academically, or perhaps you won't be able to achieve what you wanted in terms of your work or kind of life plans."

The study began with more than 300 9th graders at 38 different high schools across Michigan. Students completed online surveys multiple times per year over three years.

Researchers found students who experienced overt victimization such as direct verbal or physical attacks did not report lower future expectations. Prior research established relational victimization affected elementary students' academic performance and standardized test scores over time. Schacter argued schools need to see the effects of bullying not just as a challenging social issue but also as an educational priority.

"As there's been increased recognition of how it can negatively impact teens, more and more schools have, at the very least, adopted anti-bullying policies," Schacter acknowledged. "Unfortunately, it's very time intensive, and can be quite costly to implement evidence-based large-scale school interventions for bullying."

She added it is important to have strong communication between researchers, policymakers and administrators to address bullying so it is not too burdensome for schools and is backed by what researchers have learned.

The biannual Pro-Kid Scorecard from the Children Now Action Fund was released today.

In it, 12 state Assembly members and seven state Senators earned a 100% rating.

Kelly Hardy, senior managing director of health and research at the nonprofit Children Now Action Fund, said the scoring reflects more than how lawmakers vote.

"They voted the right way on health and child welfare, child care, education," Hardy outlined. "They also supported kids in the budget, which is not always an easy thing to do when we've got budget deficits."

The lowest scores hovered around 48%, awarded to lawmakers who voted against certain bills but also voted for proposals like forced outing policies for LGBTQ+ students in schools.

Hardy noted the report is intended to inform voters as they head to the ballot box next month.

"Kids may not vote but we want to elect legislators who do their best to support kids," Hardy explained.

California ranks 35th in the nation for child well-being, according to the latest Annie E. Casey Foundation report and is just above the national average for per-pupil spending on K-12 education.