Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2024
CONTACT
Micah McCoy
Communications Director
Email: micah.mccoy@ececd.gov.nm
Mobile: (505) 629–9575
1120 Paseo De Peralta
Santa Fe, NM 87501
PORTALES, NM – On Wednesday, March 13, the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) convened the first Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Advisory Council of calendar year 2024 at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, NM.
“New Mexico is moving forward on a number of initiatives tied to the department’s five-year plan that will continue to transform early education and care in 2024,” said ECECD Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky. “The guidance and leadership provided by the Advisory Council is critical to ensuring that our work is grounded in the lived realities of families. We look forward to another productive year of collaboration with the Council.”
The March 13 meeting included:
- A Home Visiting/Early Intervention panel discussion on challenges facing service providers in Eastern/Southern New Mexico
- Review of the 2024 Child Care Development Fund plan
- Discussion of the Alternative Methodology Taskforce, which helps guide the use of a cost model to set child care assistance rates at a level that supports competitive educator wages and quality
- The redesign of FOCUS, New Mexico’s tiered quality rating system for child care
- ECECD’s collaboration with the New Mexico Public Education Department, school districts, and charter schools on the implementation of the Early Development Instrument, a population-based measure of school readiness
The ECEC Advisory Council is comprised of state and local education leaders, early childhood professionals, service providers, Tribal representatives, parent representatives, and other individuals representing communities impacted by early care and education policies. The Council engages with a wide range of stakeholders to guide and build upon the State’s ongoing work to create a comprehensive, affordable, and high-quality prenatal-to-five system that meets the needs of New Mexico’s children and families. The Early Childhood Education and Care Advisory Council fulfills a federal requirement for states to establish a state advisory early childhood council.
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Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham launched the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) in 2020, making New Mexico among the first states to consolidate all early childhood programs and services under a single cabinet-level agency. Under this administration, ECECD has led the nation by expanding access to free New Mexico PreK, overseeing the largest investment in early childhood infrastructure in state history, and implementing cost-free child care for a majority of New Mexico families. Learn more about how ECECD supports children, families, and the early childhood professionals that serve our communities at nmececd.org. On Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as @NewMexicoECECD.