Child protection advocates are celebrating new state laws passed to keep kids safer.

While the new laws are welcome, advocates say there's more work to do. The groups TexProtects and Any Baby Can gathered to go over how the state invested in child abuse programs.

Currently, the state budget for child abuse prevention programs is $185 million, a big jump from past years, but inflation and increased population are keeping the programs from reaching all the kids that need help.

"Right now we're only covering about 20,000 children in home visiting programs, which are the most proven child abuse prevention programs, but there's over 210,000 kids in our state that qualify,” TexProtects executive director Madeline McClure said.

According to TexProtects, 7 million children live in Texas but the state ranks very low in family economic well-being.

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