ECECD Spotlights Child Care Quality and Sustainability with a Cost of Care Survey

SANTA FE – Today, the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) announced the opening of its second Child Care Cost Survey, a key component of the alternative methodology that ECECD will use to set child care assistance rates on the true cost of quality care – not just what families can afford. The survey, which is distributed to child care owners, directors, and family child care providers across the state, is the foundation for the alternative methodology process. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child Care, requires states to use alternate methodology or a market rate survey every three years to inform child care assistance rate setting as part of the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF), the block grant that establishes federal policy and provides funding for child care. “New Mexico is making significant investments in child care because we understand that the cost of quality child care is out of reach for most families, and that providing quality care is essential to improving outcomes for young children and their families” said ECECD Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky. “We have made child care free for a majority of New Mexico families through our child care assistance program and calibrated our rates to support a living wage for the early educators who care for young children during their most rapid and critical period of development.” In 2021, New Mexico, after Washington D.C., became the first state in the nation to use an ' alternative methodology ' in setting child care assistance rates rather than basing them on market prices. This methodology will again be used in 2024 to help inform child care assistance rates. ECECD works with Prenatal to Five Fiscal Strategies (P5FS) to engage in this process and update the cost estimation model to help better understand how much it truly costs to deliver early care and education that meets state standards and compensates the workforce sufficiently. Because of rate increases informed by cost modeling, a wage floor of $15 for entry level child care workers and $20/hr for lead teachers has been built into the current rate. Participation in ECECD’s Child Care Assistance Program has increased 107% since 2021, with copays waived for all eligible families. [Quote from Crystal Tapia-Romero?] The survey and accompanying input sessions will allow early care and education providers, including child care centers, family and group homes, Tribal, registered home providers, as well as preschool and school age programs, to share current expenses and the true cost of care. The survey is available in English and Spanish. Input sessions will be held in English and Spanish (and other languages as requested). Learn more about the process through this short overview . ###