SANTA FE – New Mexico’s child welfare agencies on Thursday will jockey with other state departments for slim funding as they present their spending requests to state lawmakers.
From emergency internet access and welfare checks to a strained child care system, children and parents have more needs because of the pandemic, while state revenues are down and agencies are being asked to trim their spending by around 5% for the next fiscal year that starts in July 2021.
Pandemic restrictions and low pay for workers continue to hamper the opening of child care centers in New Mexico, but most have stayed open during the ups and downs of caseloads because of emergency subsidies and other measures.
“Throughout the pandemic, (Early Childhood Education and Care Department) has preserved essential services and supported New Mexico’s early childhood system. As a result, these programs and services – and the professionals who run them – will be able to continue serving children and families after the emergency is over,” Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky said in a statement.
Groginsky will address legislators on her department’s efforts to stabilize the child care industry, which has seen closures, capacity limitations and staffing challenges because of the pandemic.
The department oversees child care and prekindergarten programs. It’s requesting $401 million, a slight decrease from last year. Around a third of the budget is expected to come from federal funding.
Groginsky’s remarks came as hundreds of New Mexico child care providers and the vast majority of schools remain closed.
Meanwhile, employees of grocery stores, banks and other businesses continue working in person while trying to figure out how to care for their school-aged children.
Of the 995 child care providers licensed at the beginning of the pandemic, 716 were open as of Nov. 19, according to the Early Childhood Education and Care Department.
December statistics were not immediately available. More child care centers may have shut down in recent weeks because of the rising number of virus cases.
In August, only 627 of the child care providers were open and that represented an increase from the earliest spike in the pandemic.
Since then, the state has nearly doubled the number of emergency permits to allow family, friends and neighbors to be paid to care for up to four children from low-income households after a background check.
Most households qualify for child care subsidies if they have income of up to 200% of the federal poverty line, or about $52,400 for a family of four.
Cedar Attanasio is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Attanasio on Twitter.
