The bill making universal childcare state law was passed and is now waiting for the governor's signature.
Back in November, New Mexico became the first state to offer free childcare to all families regardless of income.
Since then, about 13,000 new children have been enrolled in childcare according to the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD). I spoke to Elizabeth Groginsky the ECECD Secretary, when the program started.
“We’re just seeing incredible testimonials from families, from childcare providers, and exceling a great sense of pride and also a great sense of relief that New Mexico has made this very important and bold policy move,” Groginsky said.
At that time 3,000 children, many who were already enrolled in childcare, had applied for Universal childcare. Groginsky emphasized the impact this could have on families and providers.
“It allows families the freedom to be able to make those choices in a more supportive environment, and it helps our early childhood childcare programs have the revenues that they need to pay the fair wages to the staff working in their centers,” Groginsky said.
Senate Bill 241, The Childcare Assistance Fund, codifies the assistance program, provides wage requirements for providers and addresses reporting for children at risk of developmental delays. District 52 State Representative Doreen Gallegos sponsored the bill.
“This bill will create stability in childcare services for eligible New Mexican families.” Gallegos said.
During debate, Representative Brian Baca expressed concern over the stability of the Early Childhood Trust Fund, which was created in 2020 and currently has $11 Billion. SB241 will take $660 million from the fund within a five-year period.
Gallegos explained that there are guardrails built into the program for financial stability, such as co-pays, that will be triggered when inflation is high, enrollment in program is down, and when oil prices go down. Families earning 600% above federal poverty levels will have to pay.
“The co-payments are estimated to generate about $12 million,” Gallegos said.
The bill passed the house with a 37-19 vote.
In a statement, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said she is looking forward to signing the bill, “This historic initiative will serve generations of families who no longer need to worry if quality care for their children is within reach. I am immensely proud of New Mexico, and I thank all members of the House and Senate for their partnership in making this vision a reality.”
The NMSU School for Young Children is a provider of universal childcare. They saw an increase in children applying for the toddler school, which is already full, and an increase in students participating in the afterschool program, said Abigail Wisniewski is the interim director for the school.
“We do see a lot in terms of our waitlist. I want to say every single day I wouldn't be surprised if we have one to at least 2 people applying. And then for our aftercare program we did have several families who were choosing not to do aftercare, choose to actually opt in for it, and now their children are in the program, so those numbers did increase,” Wisniewski said.
Toddler Teacher Angeline Barela said that she was having conversations with families, and many expressed relief. But with more kids enrolled in childcare, Barela said she does have concerns.
“I think in everybody's perspective you know the children should come first, right? And taking care of them. But there is a lot of work that is going to have to be put into it in terms of, you know, getting ready and making sure, you know, we have the adults to care for these children and also that these adults are trained or have the resources to understand how to take care of the children,” Barela said
Wisniewski added her thoughts on universal childcare.
“This just opens the door for more children to receive, hopefully right, quality care. And I think it also puts an emphasis on the importance of early childhood education, and caregiving cause it's just not schools, its daycares, you know all these other providers,” Wisniewski said.
Representative Gallegos said it is estimated that about 60 thousand children will be in childcare once the program is fully executed.
