A highlight of the 2019 New Mexico legislative session was the creation of the new cabinet level Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD). Early childhood programs currently in other state departments moving to the ECECD include childcare assistance and licensing, home visiting, PreK, early intervention and early childhood educator professional development. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham will soon name a Secretary-Designate for the new department and the department is expected to become fully operational by July 2020.

New Mexico learned in January that it had received a $5.4 million federal grant under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The funding from the Administration for Children and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will help states build and strengthen early learning systems for children birth to age five and their families. New Mexico’s application calls for the effort to begin prenatally. Under the grant, the state will conduct a statewide needs assessment and strategic plan, create an early learning media campaign, share professional development opportunities and best practices, and improve the overall quality of early learning services. These activities will also lay the foundation for the new Early Childhood Education and Care Department. More information here.