Problem: Siloed Data Prohibits Evidence-Based Policymaking
Despite unprecedented funding, dedicated professionals, and research-backed programs, too many families remain trapped in intergenerational poverty. The problem isn't lack of effort or resources, it's that every system operates with blinders on to what the others can and are doing.
Research demonstrates that family circumstances are deeply interconnected: housing instability predicts child neglect; food insecurity correlates with poor educational outcomes; parental incarceration links to childhood mental health problems; lack of prenatal care increases both infant mortality and later child welfare involvement. These connections are well-documented in academic literature, yet New Mexico's systems cannot see these patterns in the families they serve because data remains siloed across disconnected agencies.
Consider a newborn discharged from the hospital with a concerned social worker noting signs of paternal drug use and housing instability. Two years later, that same child shows up at a preschool screening with developmental delays. At age eight, the child's P.E. teacher refers the family to child protective services. By fourteen, this student is failing classes.
NM Appleseed’s Solution Design Process
Appleseed's approach began in 2015 by convening experts from across systems: child welfare workers, public health officials, early childhood educators, behavioral health providers, researchers, and families who had navigated multiple systems simultaneously. These conversations revealed that frontline workers intuitively understood connections between systems but had no way to act on this knowledge.
We researched data integration models in other states and internationally, examining evidence on risk and protective factors across domains. The academic research was clear: linked administrative data could identify high-risk families early, target intensive services where they'd have greatest impact, evaluate program effectiveness rigorously, and measure cost savings from prevention.
We developed a phased approach: start with a small research lab within an existing agency, establish robust data governance and privacy protections, demonstrate value through pilot studies answering critical policy questions, then expand scope and capacity based on proven results.
NM Appleseed’s Solution: The Family Success Lab at NMDOH
In 2020-21, Appleseed secured legislative funding to create the Family Success Lab (FSL) at the New Mexico Department of Health. The FSL uses linked administrative data from multiple state agencies to discover and deploy evidence-based, data-informed, and scalable solutions to challenges facing vulnerable children and families.
The FSL goal is to operate on four core principles: (1) Linked data for whole-family understanding, connecting de-identified records across agencies to see patterns invisible in isolated data; (2) Risk and protective factors analysis, identifying what predicts poor outcomes and what prevents them; (3) Program evaluation and evidence-building, rigorously assessing whether interventions work and for whom; and (4) Cross-generation and cross-agency insights, examining how interventions affect entire family systems rather than just target individuals.
The Family Success Lab represents more than research—it's building infrastructure for New Mexico to fundamentally change how it makes policy and funding decisions. Instead of relying on intuition or studies from other states, policymakers will have rigorous evidence about what works, for whom, and at what cost. Most fundamentally, the Family Success Lab transforms the possible. Problems that appear unsolvable—intergenerational poverty, child maltreatment, educational failure—become addressable when we can finally see the full picture of family circumstances and identify interventions that break these cycles. Evidence-based policymaking should not be aspirational—it should be standard practice. The Family Success Lab is making that possible in New Mexico.
The Family Success Lab is conducting its first major evaluation study: assessing whether New Mexico's substantial investment in home visitation programs prevents child maltreatment and improves family outcomes.
Ultimately, Appleseed creations, such as the Family Success Lab, help our own work. When we advocate for expanding GPA statewide, the FSL can provide data on how the program affects participants and even younger siblings. When we propose BIBS as an alternative to child removal, it will evaluate whether it actually decreases substance exposed birth and prevents foster care placement. When we work to expand WIC access, it can demonstrate return on investment in reduced healthcare costs and improved child development.
PROVING THE MODEL'S VALUE
The Family Success Lab is conducting its first major evaluation study:
assessing whether New Mexico's substantial investment in home visitation programs prevents
child maltreatment and improves family outcomes. The FSL will also evaluate BIBS and GPA.
EVIDENCE-BASED POLICYMAKING: Family Success Lab
The problem: New Mexico works in silos to address problems that exist across systems—only treating the symptoms of poverty and not the root causes.
Despite all best and well-intentioned efforts by government and philanthropy, too many New Mexican families are unable to escape the inter-generational effects of poverty. All of New Mexico Appleseed's work uses a multi-dimensional lens to address the complex root causes of poverty.
Ample research shows that many symptoms of vulnerable families are causal and/or correlated. For instance, a child's lack of stable housing is a risk factor for child neglect. Food insecurity is a risk factor for low educational outcomes. The correlations are too many to list, but critical to recognize if you want to understand and address the needs of New Mexico's most vulnerable families.
Family Success Lab at the New Mexico Department of Health
Addressing the policy challenge (and solution) to multi-system-involved children and families. The vast majority of New Mexico’s social services system is based on triage with no ability to predict and prevent problems. A hospital social worker cannot know that a baby is at higher risk of being abused, for example, if he does not know that the baby’s family is homeless. A school counselor cannot know that a fourth grade child is at high risk for mental health problems, if she does not know that the child’s father is in prison. The lack of coordination of data that tells a child’s whole set of circumstances means that funding, policymaking and service provision is rarely (and randomly) effective.
Appleseed created the Family Success Lab (FSL) at the NM Department of Health (DOH) to use linked administrative data to discover and deploy evidence-based, data-informed and scalable solutions to common challenges facing vulnerable children and families. Linked data offers significantly more granularity in understanding key risk factors for poor outcomes and evaluating programs. It helps identify risk and protective factors to better assess family strengths and challenges, target evidence-based programs to high-risk groups, and evaluate programs, policies, and interventions for efficacy and cost.
In 2020-21 Appleseed secured legislative funding for a full-time position for the FSL at the DOH. We spearheaded the creation of a research agenda to study cross-agency and cross-generation correlations at DOH and the NM Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD). The FSL is currently looking at questions regarding the impact of home visitation programs on:
preventing abuse and neglect referrals
enrollment in high-quality pre-K
maternal depression
improve outcomes for other children in the household