Las Cruces daycare providers benefit from federal, state stabilization grants

Bulletin report

Three months after the state’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) awarded more than $157 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to childcare providers around the state, those providers say the support has been critical in their efforts to educate and care for the youngest New Mexicans, ECECD said in a news release.

The state awarded grants to more than 1,000 providers in all 30 counties where there are childcare programs in what ECECD called “one of the largest investments in early care and education in the state’s history.”

“It’s made a huge difference on our stress levels,” said Fatima Gonzalez Ray, the owner and director of Little Amigos Child Development Center in Las Cruces, when asked about the grant Little Amigos received. “The funding has helped us offset any unforeseen expenses and made it possible for us to make payroll, hire new teachers, and purchase much-needed supplies and materials for our classrooms. We’ve also been able to purchase for each classroom a new HEPA-filtered air purifier, which so far has led to a reduction in sick days taken by our staff.” (Visit www.littleamigoslc.com.)

ECECD spokesman Patrick Rodriguez said 264 childcare providers in Doña Ana County were awarded a little more than $22 million in childcare funds.

ECECD received $197 million in ARPA funds in 2021 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Child Care. When administrative costs were removed, nearly $177.4 million was available for direct grants to New Mexico childcare providers to offset “the extraordinary strains caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” ECECD said.

“These grants are designed to help the childcare industry in New Mexico address the fallout from decreased enrollment, workforce shortages, and higher costs,” the news release said. “Childcare businesses may use the stabilization grant funds for personnel costs, rent, utilities, facilities maintenance, insurance, personal protective equipment, cleaning and other health and safety practices, purchases of or updates to equipment and supplies to respond to Covid-19, goods and services necessary to maintain or resume childcare services, mental health supports for children and employees and paying for past expenses that resulted from the pandemic,” ECECD said.

New Mexico was among the first states to obligate and distribute these funds, making the first payments in October, the department said.

ECECD launched in 2020, one of only four cabinet-level agencies nationwide that consolidated all early childhood agencies under one roof, the department said.

Visit nmececd.org and find the department @NewMexicoECECD on Facebook and Twitter.