SANTA FE — The state has launched a new statewide public awareness campaign encouraging parents to support their children by paying child support, with television and radio advertisements airing across New Mexico beginning this month.
The Health Care Authority’s Child Support Services Division is rolling out the “Do the Loving Thing” campaign in both English and Spanish. The ads will run for 12 months through the New Mexico Broadcasters Association’s Public Education Program, targeting parents with active child support obligations.
According to the agency, the child support program collected $119 million last year. About 65 percent of those payments came through wage withholding from employed parents, which officials say remains the most reliable way to ensure consistent monthly support.
“This year’s public service campaign starts and ends with love,” said Betina Gonzales McCracken, director of the Child Support Services Division. “It’s love that brings a child into the world, it’s love that supports a child, so we are asking parents to do the loving thing, and pay their child support today.”
State officials say the campaign also reflects broader efforts to modernize New Mexico’s child support system. Over the past six years, the program has implemented changes including court orders tailored to a parent’s ability to pay, limiting retroactive arrears to three years, and establishing a self-support reserve to help paying parents meet their own basic needs while fulfilling child support obligations.
Additional initiatives include job development and employment assistance through the STEPUp! program, aimed at helping parents remain employed and able to make regular payments.
Parents wishing to make a child support payment can do so online. Those who need assistance or want their case reviewed are encouraged to contact the Child Support Services Division. The Health Care Authority Customer Service Center is available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 1-800-283-4465, or online through the YES.NM.GOV portal.