While Families Struggle to Access Services, a Bold Solution Exists
Chapin Hall University of Chicago report identifies service disparities and the transformative potential of the 100% New Mexico initiative.
Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD and Dominic Cappello
April 15, 2024
The social determinants of health (SDOH) play a critical role in shaping the well-being of individuals and communities. They encompass essential services like housing, food access, transportation, education, and medical care. In New Mexico, a groundbreaking report by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago uncovers the alarming reality that numerous families across the state face significant challenges accessing vital services due to adverse SDOH. This alarming disparity makes essential survival and growth resources out of reach for many children, students, and parents.
Dr. Julie McCrae, lead author of the report, highlights the urgent need for action, stating, “The level of difficulty individuals reported accessing services, such as medical care, was beyond what we expected.” The study found that over half of individuals struggling to access public transportation, mental health care, and housing assistance encountered significant barriers. Furthermore, four in ten individuals experienced difficulty accessing medical care when needed. In total, eight of the fourteen surveyed services were difficult to access for at least 40% of those in need, with nearly 70% reporting challenges accessing housing services.
Read the Report
The Path Forward: Challenges, Opportunities, and Action
The comprehensive report serves as a valuable resource for elected leaders and stakeholders in philanthropy, higher education, and healthcare sectors by detailing the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. As the first state to systematically collect data on families’ needs and difficulties accessing vital services, New Mexico can now pinpoint where service barriers exist and their root causes. Years of research on the social determinants of health have unveiled the detrimental consequences of inadequate service access and paved the way for strategies to transform adverse SDOH into positive ones.
A Driving Force For Change
New Mexico State University’s Anna, Age Eight Institute is the driving force behind the 100% New Mexico initiative and the survey. The initiative is guided by the framework presented in the book 100% Community: 10 Vital Services for Surviving and Thriving by Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney and Dominic Cappello. The institute is currently supporting 17 county-based data-driven efforts to resolve service barriers.
The 100% New Mexico initiative is marking its fifth anniversary by bringing together local initiative leaders from across the state in Santa Fe to analyze the report and share strategies for addressing the extreme service disparities by developing 100% Family Center: One Stop Service Hubs across the state. 100% Service Hubs will be empowered by technology and innovative strategies designed to connect visitors to ten essential services onsite, online, and through staff navigators. This idea is radical in its simplicity but monumental in its potential to ensure all New Mexican families receive the crucial support they require. Key to the hubs are service teams and quality improvement teams that grow services, with the potential to alter New Mexico’s trajectory toward becoming the safest state for children to grow and flourish.
“The 100% Service Hubs are not just a plan, they are a promising strategy paving the way for a seamless countywide system of easily accessible, high-quality support services in an era of service disruptions,” 100% New Mexico initiative co-developer Dominic Cappello said.
This New Mexico State University initiative aims to eradicate service disparities by mobilizing local advocates to provide access to the vital services for surviving and thriving for all families, effectively tackling New Mexico’s long-standing and most pressing public health, safety, and education challenges.
“Five years ago, we were told we were thinking too big, and our idea to deliver ten vital services to 100% of families was too complex,” said 100% New Mexico co-developer Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney “We can be audacious and create a New Mexico where 100% of our children can thrive.”
Did you know? Our transformational 100% New Mexico initiative is guided by web-based, self-paced courses provided free to all New Mexicans.
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Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney
Katherine Ortega Courtney, PhD. is a changemaker, psychologist, author, and life coach. Her work in child welfare advocacy has instilled change in data-driven trauma prevention in states across the country. She has worked in policy and research and has led community initiatives through her work at the Santa Fe Community Foundation and the New Mexico Early Childhood Development Partnership. As a psychologist and life coach, she coaches individuals and organizations on interrupting the cycles of trauma, addressing the burnout rate in government jobs and child welfare, and providing the tools and skills to achieve the work-life balance that will trickle down to better outcomes in prevention. Her doctorate work at Texas Christian University was in experimental psychology focused on substance abuse treatment and prevention.
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Dominic Cappello
Cappello is a New York Times bestselling author and TEDx Conference curator with decades of experience advocating for health, safety and education. He has a Master of Arts in Liberal studies with an emphasis on Language and Communication from Regis University. He worked for the New Mexico Department of Health Epidemiology and Response Division and the New Mexico Child Protective Services Research, Assessment and Data Bureau, where he co-developed the Data Leader for Child Welfare program, which he implemented in New York City, Connecticut and New Mexico.
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The 100% New Mexico initiative is a program of the Anna, Age Eight Institute at New Mexico State University, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service. Contact: annaageeight@nmsu.edu or visit annaageeight.nmsu.edu to learn more.
