ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico has taken big steps forward in improving families’ access to childcare in recent years, a report released by nonprofit New Mexico Voices for Children this summer found.
But the services have not yet made their way to all its families.
New Mexico must do better to provide access to childcare and other services to its most underserved populations, advocates and others said during a roundtable discussion held Wednesday in Albuquerque with New Mexico Democratic U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich. Doing so will require increasing capital investments in boosting childcare access, among other strategies — things the state has worked on in recent months.
“The only way that we are going to really invest and see the results that we want to see in our greatest asset, which is the next generation, is if we start working together across all of those silos,” Heinrich said. “We’ve done some incredible things in this state in just the last few years, but it’s just the beginning.”
Early Childhood Education and Care Department spokesperson Julia Sclafani wrote in an email the state has made significant progress since launching universal childcare in November, adding 6,769 new licensed childcare slots across 251 additional providers since then. She argued much of that progress has been driven by strategies like increasing funding for childcare facilities or making it easier to open businesses.
“New Mexico is in the middle of a sustained, statewide push to build the child care supply families need, and the department is seeing real results,” Sclafani wrote.
The state still has work to do to ensure all children who need childcare are getting access to it, New Mexico Voices for Children says.
The advocacy organization’s report, published in June, found that enrollment in childcare centers — the majority of children receiving services — steadily increased from 2023 to 2025. But from 2025 to 2026, the number of children enrolled in those facilities jumped from over 29,300 to nearly 39,300.
That marked the largest increase of the past five years, according to the report.
The advocacy organization noted the state should focus more on increasing the number of infants and toddlers receiving childcare assistance in rural, tribal and other underserved communities, which are often those New Mexico has struggled most to reach.
Currently, nearly 31,000 children are receiving services in those areas. New Mexico Voices for Children argued the state should strive for a 20% increase — to more than 37,100.
Dr. Rebecca Girardet, one of very few pediatricians in New Mexico dedicated to treating child abuse, emphasized the importance of programs like universal childcare in preventing child maltreatment.
“We need to be so proud of the fact that we’re the first state in the nation offering no-cost childcare. That’s one of the best ways to prevent child abuse and neglect. By providing that economic security, parents can go back to the workforce; they’re not relying on unsafe caregivers,” she said. “But how do we make that a reality statewide is a challenge.”
New Mexico Voices for Children argued in its report the state must work to develop programs aimed at improving “support and capital for increasing the number of childcare providers statewide, with an emphasis on areas lacking sufficient access to care.”
Sclafani said the state has made progress in clearing the road for more people to serve children. For example, the state has worked to remove barriers to becoming a childcare provider through Senate Bill 96, a measure approved by lawmakers this year that removed much of the red tape and duplicative tasks between governmental agencies that was previously required of prospective childcare providers before they could open their businesses.
Sclafani also pointed to the state’s Child Care Facility Revolving Loan Fund, a budding program designed to provide low-interest loans from the state to childcare providers in areas with low access to construct new buildings or expand existing ones. That program has awarded $20 million to providers so far this year.
“Child care is delivered by community- and school-based providers, overwhelmingly by small businesses and home-based operators. The state cannot build the child care New Mexico needs on its own,” Sclafani wrote. “What the department can do — and is doing — is help create the conditions for growth. Real, ongoing progress and lasting success requires continued collaboration with local governments, employers, families, child care providers, and other partners across the state.”
Esteban Candelaria is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. He covers child welfare and the state Children, Youth and Families Department. Learn more about Report for America at reportforamerica.org.
