Growing Up New Mexico

There is a critical shortage of child care for working families. We believe the solution lies in a robust and supported system of home-based child care (HBCC) providers that is informed by families’ needs and desires for high-quality, yet affordable, child care. This will be accomplished by increasing capacity in communities to be flexible and responsive in providing wrap-around support for families and caregivers. By activating a whole community approach, our solution is rooted in each local place with emphasis on recognition of the importance of early childhood development, support for working families, and increased viability and economic mobility for the small business owners who provide care. Our solution has three components:

1) Develop and strengthen support for HBCC providers through networks and shared services.

2) Connect families with young children to the providers in these networks.

3) Identify policy and administrative improvements to remove barriers and strengthen HBCC.

By adhering to the each of the three components, our solution will increase the quality of care HBCC providers offer to families in their community, legitimize and strengthen HBCC providers as entrepreneurs and small business owners, and create financial stability for HBCC providers who are overwhelmingly women of color.

New Mexico’s child care system is facing its biggest disruption in generations. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted working families by decreasing access to high-quality care for young children, leaving home-based providers to shoulder immense pressure as child care centers have had to reduce capacity or close. As COVID-19 forces a re-imagining of the child care system, high-quality home-based child care will be central to recovery. Currently, families often piece together care and solutions during the first five years of a child’s life to support their employment and other needs. For many these first years feel like a white-knuckled effort to survive. However, by building intention, knowledge, and community support for HBCC providers, our solution will strengthen and grow these businesses, while providing families the increased ability to make choices for culturally aligned care in a small setting and, thus a greater ability to pursue desired employment. Additionally, by elevating the role of HBCC providers, our solution will unlock opportunities for recognition, professionalization and, compensation for this workforce and group of entrepreneurs, predominantly women of color. Home-based care is often forgotten, overlooked, and undervalued when evaluating the economic stability, and potential for growth, of any given community. This initiative will seek to change that and to strengthen the largest existing child care system, including improving compensation and meeting the professional needs of this workforce.

The lack of high-quality child care affects everyone and the issue has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. A recent survey conducted by HelpAdvisor has found that since the start of the pandemic, 21.5% of New Mexico parents and guardians have left the workforce to care for children at home. Others have turned to home based care, which in overwhelmingly supplied by BIPOC women. However, the child care workforce, and most especially small business owners who provide care out of their homes, are drastically underpaid. In addition, regulations for HBCC licensure are punitive, cumbersome, and difficult to navigate, especially for Spanish speakers. This results in an inordinate amount of provider’s time spent on paperwork, administrative tasks, and other bureaucratic processes instead of caring for and teaching children. By establishing networks of support, including shared services hubs, our solution allows for improved access to licensing leading to increased revenue for home-based providers through food programs and child care subsidies, increased administrative and operational support, and expanded professional development and educational opportunities for providers. Other outcomes of our solution include increased supply and resilience of providers, higher quality of care, improved child outcomes, and greater family satisfaction. Finally, by supporting  place-based HBCC as a high-quality alterative to center-based care, our solution can help steer policy to support owners of home-based child care businesses and remove barriers and streamline processes at the state and local levels.

Many early childhood professionals in NM do not have professional support and recognition. They do not have health care benefits, paid time off, sick leave, or vacation time. A recent survey of 1,290 early childhood professionals in NM, conducted in partnership with local research firm Latino Decisions, found that 58% of respondents identified as Latino or Native American, 70% make less than $40,000 per year, and 24% make less than $15,000 per year, with home-based providers consistently being on the low end of that spectrum, despite providing a much needed service. As a result of our proposed solution, we expect to see increased opportunities for high-quality, culturally aligned, early childhood education and care for families in underserved communities, as well as increased economic mobility for home-based providers, and policy and administrative improvements to support both outcomes. These results are closely linked, with improved policy, administrative streamlining, and increased support for providers leading to an increase in quality child care available for families. All these factors will create a virtuous cycle of interconnected strength and resilience for families, children, providers, and the communities surrounding them. With a target of working in six communities across New Mexico, we expect to engage and support up to 300 providers, impacting an estimated 2,000 children in care. By increasing quality care, we estimate these children will have increased access to developmental screens, health and nutrition services, as well as increased family wellness and support programs like infant mental health services and family counseling. These resources create the conditions children need to thrive. Finally, as care networks strengthen and providers attain increased stability and economic mobility, we expect that families utilizing their services will see decreased level of stress and worry when it comes to reliable and high-quality care for their children

At this point we are centering our solution in our state. New Mexico is unique in that we have a combination of densely populated urban areas and highly rural areas. In addition, our southern boarder is shared with Mexico meaning we also have a significant number of frontier communities. New Mexico is also home to 23 federally recognized sovereign nations, tribes, and pueblos. Each of the aforementioned is highly varied in terms of community need, access to resources, culture, and language. As such, what works well to support HBCC businesses in one community will not necessarily work in another, much less another state. We are currently supporting an established network of mono-lingual Spanish speaking home-based providers in southern New Mexico in an unincorporated region called Chaparral. Chaparral is rural and very close to the border with Mexico. By contrast, we are also in the beginning stages of establishing an HBCC network in Santa Fe County. Santa Fe County is in the north-central region of the state, has a more densely populated urban area in the City of Santa Fe, and is home to the state capital. While the solution in each is consistent, the steps are not.

Vision

All children succeed in school and life.

Mission

To engage the whole community, bringing together people and resources to create increased opportunities for young children and the adults in their lives to achieve their dreams and aspirations

Focus

1. Demonstrate and implement effective and proven early childhood strategies, prenatal to five years old focused on quality.
2. Prepare children to enter kindergarten ready for success.
3. Employ multi-generational model that reaches both children and families.
4. Advocate for effective early childhood policies focused on quality and accountability.

HBCC providers have been  "centers of gravity" for generations of working families, especially for families living in child care deserts. The homes of HBCC providers, overwhelmingly women of color, are often where children first begin acquiring social and other valuable skills needed over their lifetimes. However, the communities in which HBCC is most frequently used are disproportionately marginalized, the majority of families who depend on HBCC are low-income, and the providers themselves are seen as low-wage (or no wage) baby-sitters as opposed to professional early educators in a respected field. When providers are not economically empowered, and are unable to earn a living wage, consistently providing high-quality care to children is challenging. The entire system is undervalued and underappreciated.

However we believe if HBCC providers are supported as legitimate business owners and entrepreneurs providing an essential service to families in their communities, the quality of care they provide will be higher, thereby resulting in increased outcomes for the children in their care. By supporting HBCC, families grow stronger and communities become more just and equitable. This is multi-generational economic development aimed at closing the opportunity gap for children, families, and home-based child care providers.

We currently serve an estimated 75 HBCC providers throughout New Mexico. In one year, our solution will serve 200 HBCC providers across the state. We will also continue to deepen engagement within our existing network. Finally, In five years our solution will serve 500 HBCC providers in all regions on New Mexico.

The communities we serve are diverse in terms of population, culture, and socio-economic range. However, the one thing they all have in common is a shortage of affordable childcare. Key stakeholders and decision makers are invested at the state and local levels. State-level stakeholders/decision makers include the Governor, leadership and staff at the state's Early Childhood Education & Care Department, and members of the NM State Legislature, including  Legislative Finance Committee and Legislative Education Study Committee staff and analysts. Local stakeholders/decision makers include mayors, city councils, school boards, county commissions, regulatory agencies, chambers of commerce, community advocates, child care professionals, families, and children.

Our solution for HBCC networks is designed to provide for co-created priorities in communities. We bring resources to these networks while facilitating a consensus-based, collective community decision making process for prioritizing issues to work on. 

Growing Up NM begins its work by listening to families, early childhood professionals, child care providers, academic researchers, government officials and agents, and all members of the community who are interested in bettering the lives of the youngest New Mexicans. Once the community has identified and prioritized the challenges and goals impacting early childhood services, Growing Up NM undertakes research, analysis, stakeholder engagement, develops policy, and conducts education and outreach necessary for effective implementation. By listening, we can design programs and advocate for policy to identify and remove barriers, increase access, and build on the strengths and cultural assets of our community. Examples include bilingual programming and staff, translation of all communications into Spanish, timely and robust e-communications strategy targeted to specific audiences in our diverse network, and information gathering via community conversations and surveys.

By the end of the five years, we will strengthen and support ten local networks of home-based child care providers by increasing tangible resources and support; increasing professional skills, business, and leadership development; and reducing structural policy/administrative barriers. The following six strategic steps will overlap repeat as needed to aid the development and implementation of strong HBCC networks:

• Engage providers and parents to understand their needs and desires for growing and strengthening quality of care in each unique community. This will include key factors in care settings such as language, culture, values, location, and hours.
• Distill common needs of providers and families, and identify potential resources, barriers, and activities to activate wrap-around support in communities including state and federal programs, business development, food banks, local libraries, local non-profits, child care centers, and community colleges.
• Activate connections between families, caregivers and available resources. This may include conducting information sessions, providing translated materials, enhancing awareness, and professional development opportunities.
• Connect families in need of child care to providers via personal introductions and recommendations, social media, and referrals from partner organizations.
• Follow up with providers and families on what is or isn’t working, and additional needs and gaps. We anticipate that some resources will work better than others and that the experience in each community will be informative for others.
• Assess current policies and systems that create barriers for family child care providers to identify policy and administrative changes and needed investments for the future. 

Our solution team has decades of experience in community engagement, development and operation of responsive programs and policy for high-quality early childhood education and care, support and skill building for early childhood professionals, and active engagement and leadership development in early childhood programs and systems. We approach our work as a team, with deep listening, collaborative problem solving, and regular check ins. Since 2009, our policy work has focused on building public awareness and political will for investments in early childhood education and care so that New Mexico’s children and families will have equitable access to quality early learning opportunities and the supports they need to thrive. We have extensive experience, and a significant track record in leading early learning awareness, policy development, and advocacy efforts, including the following legislation: Early Childhood Care and Education Act; Home Visiting Accountability Act ; Child Care and Education Accountability Act; Early Childhood Education and Care Department Act; and Early Childhood Education and Care Fund. In 2019 we responded to an RFP under the federal Preschool Development Grant (PDG) and were selected to conduct a statewide Needs Assessment and create a Strategic Plan for New Mexico’s early childhood systems. Community engagement and prioritization of tribal communities were again the centerpiece of this work. The comprehensive Needs Assessment was published in December of 2019 and the Strategic Plan was submitted in December 2020. 

Since New Mexico is a small state in terms of population density, resources, and technological infrastructure, a partnership with Truist Foundation and MIT Solve will add value to our solution and organization by connecting us to additional physical resources needed to do our work. We also see immense growth potential in sharing our solution with other applicants since accessing quality child care in an issue that impacts every community and industry in this country.

Because small business development is not our organizational mission, not where  our expertise lies, community partnerships will be critical achieving our goals and successfully implementing our solution. By utilizing the strengths of our key partners, we will be able to effectively link resources from non-profits, business training organizations and civic agencies, to networks of home-based providers in each community.

We would like to partner with:

• WESST - The Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency Team  is small business assistance organization committed to supporting individuals in New Mexico who want to start a business or improve the performance of an existing one. We would like to partner with WESST on business development aspects of our solution
• ECECD - The New Mexico Education & Care Department. We would like to partner with ECECD on the aspects of our solution related to regulatory barriers.
• NMCCEA - The New Mexico Child Care & Education Association advocates for licensed child care providers in state legislation across New Mexico. We would like to partner with NMCCEA on the public awareness aspect of our solution

We would also like to partner with local community colleges/universities and existing high quality child care centers the on professional development and continuing education aspects of our solution.