Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2022
CONTACT
Micah McCoy
ECECD Communications Director
Email: micah.mccoy@state.nm.us
Mobile: 505-629-9675
1120 Paseo De Peralta
Santa Fe, NM 87501
SANTA FE – Today, the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) released three videos dubbed in English, Spanish, Vietnamese (and soon Diné) that walks families step-by-step on how to apply for free child care, early intervention services through the Family Infant Toddler Program, and Home Visiting services. Each video is only around two minutes long and provides an easy-to-understand walkthrough for accessing important early childhood programs that support children and families.
“A huge priority for Governor Lujan Grisham’s administration is making services easier to navigate and focused on the real needs of New Mexico families,” said Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky. “Our Moments Together campaign provides parenting tips, resources for families, and information on early childhood programs and services in an accessible, family-friendly way. We want to make sure every family with young children knows what supports are available to them and how they can easily apply.”
The first video in the series walks families through how to apply for ECECD’s child care assistance program. Earlier this spring, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that New Mexico is expanding eligibility for child care assistance to 400% of the federal poverty level – about $111,000 for a family of four – and waived family copays, making child care completely free for most New Mexico families.
The second video focuses on how to apply for early intervention services through ECECD’s FIT program, which provides high quality early intervention services for children ages 0-3 who are experiencing or at risk for developmental delays. New Mexico’s FIT program currently ranks in the top three states for identifying children in need of early intervention services.
The final video in the series explains how to families can receive Home Visiting services, a relationship-based program for families who are pregnant of have children under the age of five. Home visitors visit families in the convenience of their own homes to provide vital support, skills training, and resources for parents, including tips on safe sleep, breastfeeding and nutrition support, self-care, finding child care, preparing for school, and more. Home Visiting services are free to all New Mexico families regardless of income.
The videos are available on the Moments Together website at momentsnm.org and on the Moments Together YouTube channel. Sharing, embedding, and broadcast of the tutorial vidoes with proper attribution and without alteration is permitted and encouraged.
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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