Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky
ECECD News:
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 childcare, 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,” Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky said. “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 childcare assistance program. Earlier this spring, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that New Mexico is expanding eligibility for childcare assistance to 400 percent of the federal poverty level – about $111,000 for a family of four – and waived family copays, making childcare 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 and 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 childcare, 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 videos with proper attribution and without alteration is permitted and encouraged.