New Mexico gives most US funding to child care of any state
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico is directing the nation's biggest chunk of federal coronavirus relief money to helping middle-class families pay for child care, a vast expansion aimed at getting parents back to work in one of the poorest states in the United States.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Thursday that the state will subsidize child care at 350% of the federal poverty line, or about $93,000 for a family of four. That’s up from about $54,000.
“We’re going to double the subsidies for child care,” said the Democratic governor, flanked by balloons and overlooking a gaggle of young children wearing party hats. She added that the state could one day go even further: “Why don’t we have universal access for child care?”
New Mexico's two-year spending commitment will expand eligibility to the highest income levels of any state. It’s the largest and latest example of states using pandemic relief aid to subsidize child care. Others include Georgia and Montana, while California is debating a child care funding package.
Some states, like New Jersey, offer subsidies at 350% of the federal poverty line but only when relatives are providing care.
New Mexico also will be the first state to increase payments to child care providers by using a reimbursement formula that focuses on the local cost of running child care businesses, instead of the market rate of what parents can pay.
Early Childhood Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky called the announcement an “important landmark on our journey towards creating a true cradle-to-career education system that helps all New Mexicans thrive.”
Groginsky was pivotal for winning federal approval of the new formula in Washington, D.C., where she served as assistant superintendent of early learning for the District of Columbia before taking...
