Just what I needed to see for my home state!

This isn't about the bird flu this time

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/l ... 02,00.html

Many new mothers don't speak English
State among highest, Census Bureau says

By Fernando Quintero, Rocky Mountain News
October 13, 2005

Colorado has one of the highest rates of new mothers who speak little or no English, a Census Bureau report released Wednesday says.

The state is fifth in the nation in that category, according to the report, which surveyed marriage, fertility and other data from a sample of 3 million residents nationwide from 2000 to 2003. Only Nevada, Texas, Arizona and California had higher percentages of these women.

Colorado ranked ninth in the category of new mothers who were non-citizens.

State Rep. David Schultheis, R- Colorado Springs, said the study confirms his claims that Colorado has seen a sharp increase in illegal immigration, putting a strain on health care and other public services.

"This shows what is driving our Medicaid costs and public hospital costs. These costs are caseload-driven, but nobody's looking at what's behind that caseload," said Schult-heis, who intends to press for measures to eliminate or limit services to illegal immigrants.

Denver Health said the cost of interpreting for non-English speakers has grown to more than $1 million per year. It noted that it provides interpreter services in more than 160 languages.

Polly Baca, executive director of the Denver-based Latin American Research and Service Agency, said the fact that so many Colorado mothers speak little or no English is nothing new.

"Spanish-speaking families in Colorado is not a recent phenomenon. We've been speaking Spanish in this state before it became a state," she said.

She said Colorado should focus on providing health services and education to all residents, regardless of language ability or citizenship status.

"(Immigrants) are a major part of our future and current labor force. Our state's economic growth depends on them," she said. "We cannot have a viable workforce without good health and education. We should have more English courses for recent immigrants, and make sure everybody receives good health care."

Only 8.7 percent of married women who gave birth were below the poverty level, making the state the fifth lowest in this category. Colorado ranked fourth among states with the lowest percentage - 22.2 percent - of unmarried mothers with newborns.

Nationwide, almost 30 percent of all new mothers were unmarried.

The analysis showed significant geographic patterns.

Northeastern states had some of the highest levels of unmarried-couple households and Southern states had some of the lowest levels. Colorado was slightly above the national average, with 5.4 percent of all households headed by unmarried couples, making it 18th highest.