New Mexico’s commitment to advancing universal child care has always reflected its data-informed and community voice approaches. That’s why when the State’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD), led by cabinet-level Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky, in 2024 released a Request for Proposal (RFP) to conduct a comprehensive, statewide early care and education (ECE) gap analysis, LIIF was proud to apply and honored to be awarded the contract.
As the leading national community development financial institution (CDFI) working in the ECE space — with 25+ years of impact, $660 million invested and 430,000 child care program spaces created, preserved and enhanced — LIIF brings its unique approach to understanding child care supply and needs of providers.
Tailoring Our Strategy
Although we offer consistent research methodologies and products, LIIF’s work is not one size fits all: We tailor our strategy based on a particular region’s unique needs. Having conducted prior child care gap analyses for the District of Columbia and Multnomah County, Oregon (Portland region), LIIF needed to adjust its approach to gathering data in a mostly rural state which, at 48% of residents, is home to the nation’s highest Latino population.
LIIF values its strategic partnerships that make our work stronger. By collaborating with Growing Up New Mexico (GUpNM), a key leader in ECE, we benefited from that organization’s expertise and connections in the diverse communities that make up the state demographics. LIIF also continued to work with OpenFields, an organization which offers advanced learning and strategy for social innovation and brings expertise in data collection and analysis. These key partners made possible the three reports that have recently been released.
Three Reports: Complementary Perspectives
In cooperation with ECECD, LIIF is excited to release a trio of in-depth, data-rich reports, presented as interactive story maps, which are helping support the state’s universal child care plan. On Nov. 1, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to offer no-cost universal child care, a plan which is the brainchild of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (read the state’s press release). This groundbreaking initiative will make ECE available to all New Mexicans, regardless of income, by removing income eligibility requirements from the state’s child care assistance program and continuing the waiver of family copayments.
Openfields created the supply-and-demand study with the support of ECECD’s data team; LIIF and GUpNM then reviewed the data and narrative. LIIF, with the assistance of GUpNM, created two complementary reports that provide a landscape analysis of the child care ecosystem across the state of New Mexico.
The following are key takeaways from the three reports:
Report #1. Child Care Access in New Mexico
Goal: Market-level analysis of supply and demand for child care in New Mexico.
- Child care supply dipped during the pandemic, but otherwise has remained relatively stable since 2017, at ~67,542 slots.
- While there has been growth in larger centers, smaller facilities, such as licensed family child care homes, have seen a significant decrease.
- Between 2014-2024, the demand for child care steadily decreased across the state, with an average decline of 1.9%.
- Despite the slight decline in demand, there is the need to add 15,742 child care spaces statewide.
- The vast majority of the shortfall, 12,398, is in spaces for infants and toddlers.
Report #2. Building on Success: New Mexico Child Care Provider Insights
Goal: Assessing the current landscape of child development facilities
- There are challenges moving from small to large home-based care facilities and expanding center-based care – often resulting from the local regulatory environment.
- Local regulatory challenges are making it hard for providers, especially family child care, to open and expand.
- Finding qualified staff and offering fair compensation is difficult despite ECECD’s efforts to support increased pay.
- Cost of expansion is a significant barrier.
- Providers desire to offer quality outdoor space but need funding and support to do so.
Report #3. Parent Voices: New Mexico Parent Perspectives on Child Care
Goal: Understanding parent perspectives around child care demand and facilities needs.
- Parents requested sliding-scale payment systems adjusted for income and the number of children in care. (Universal child care addresses this issue.)
- Families worry about staffing and ratios.
- Safety is paramount, especially for developmentally challenged children.
- Outdoor play spaces are a key parental desire.
Conclusion
As a state committed to community voice coupled with data, New Mexico stands well positioned to begin meeting its goal of universal child care for all of its families. LIIF is proud to support this exemplary initiative, which demonstrates a scalable and effective approach that could inform national policy, thereby serving as a model for broader implementation across states.
On Nov. 1, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to offer no-cost universal child care.