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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR King

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/22/08

HB 222

SHORT TITLE CYFD Child Care Programs

SB

ANALYST Lucero

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$9,278.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to: HB233 “ENMU Child Care Services", HB162 “CYFD Child Care Program

Eligibility", SB159 “Services for Homeless Children", SB188 “Increases Child Care Program

Eligibility", and SB303 “Child Care Programs Quality Improvements".

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 222 appropriates nine million two hundred seventy-eight thousand ($9,278,000) from

the general fund to Children, Youth and Families Department for expenditure in FY09 as

follows:

1)

$2,000,000 for aim high program and stars program to increase the quality of early child

care programs;

2)

$1,000,000 for scholarships to help early childhood teachers study child development and

early learning while earning college degrees;

3)

$1,000,000 for a pilot program of education and retention incentives for early childhood

teachers, based on educational levels that those teachers achieve;

4)

$4,200,000 for child development grants to increase quality services for working families

with children from birth to five years of age;

5)

$1,000,000 to implement inclusive child care; and

6)

$78,000 for child care resource and referral.

House Bill 222 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of nine million two hundred seventy-eight thousand ($9,278,000) contained in

this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance

remaining at the end of 2009 shall revert to the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Quality child care programs will provide a solid foundation for learning for young children and

better prepares them for school.

AIM HIGH is a program at CYFD that teams a child care providers with a program development

specialist or mentor to work together to develop a plan for improving the quality of the program.

The Stars Program or Look to the Stars program is the child care program quality rating system

at CYFD that contains five levels. The higher the Star Level, the higher the level of quality.

Each Star Level requires a provider to continue to meet higher quality standards and as a

program’s Star Level increases their reimbursement from the Child Care Services increases.

Inclusive child care designates child care providers to receive an enhanced or “differential" rate

if they provide services to children with special needs. Young children receiving early

intervention prevents or eliminates the need for receiving special services later in their school

years.

The National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) states

that “research on the effect caregivers have on children during the early years clearly shows that

the caregivers’ education training and ability to provide a safe and stimulating environment have

an impact on children’s cognitive and emotional development."

CYFD currently funds differential pay for child care programs at Aim High/STARS levels 2

through 5; child development grants to increase quality services; and Child Care Inclusion

Specialists, who work through the statewide Training and Technical Assistance Programs

(TTAP), to ensure that children have access to appropriate, quality services. CYFD is also

currently piloting a program to help families of children with documented special needs access

care by making an enhanced or “differential" rate available to eligible children. The New

Mexico Kids Child Care Resource and Referral is available to assist parents in locating the type

of child care that best meets their needs. The T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood® project provides

scholarships to child care workers in homes and centers who qualify and are willing to meet the

eligibility criteria.

Relating to the $1,000,000 for scholarship for early childhood teachers:

•

Synthesis research on early childhood education conducted through the Northwest

Regional Educational Laboratory shows that higher education specific to early childhood

development increases the learning of the students in those environments. Research also

shows that quality early childhood education has a variety of long-term benefits including

higher grades, greater social and emotional maturity, more frequent high school

graduation, etc.

House Bill 222 – Page

3

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

CYFD maintains performance measures focused on the number of children served through the

child care assistance program as well as measures focused on the quality of child care received

by subsidized children. This bill is consistent with these performance measures, and with Task

2.6 of the Governor’s Healthy New Mexico initiatives.

The potential benefits of assisting early childhood teachers in increasing their educational

attainment are twofold: they may receive salary increases and the students in their care will learn

more.

PED states that if HB222 is enacted, it will support and align with the goal to ensure that all

children are ready for kindergarten.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

These initiatives would have to be managed with existing resources.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to: HB233 “ENMU Child Care Services", HB162 “CYFD Child Care Program

Eligibility", SB159 “Services for Homeless Children", SB188 “Increases Child Care Program

Eligibility", and SB303 “Child Care Programs Quality Improvements".

Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act

TECHNICAL ISSUES

There is a need to develop a system to track the courses earned by early childhood care providers

beyond the three credit hour minimum. The effect of additional childcare courses on children's

success in the classroom should also be tracked.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

As cited in the New Mexico Business Weekly in September 2005, In New Mexico, for the past 20

years, the qualifications of early childhood educators have fallen. Thirty percent of teachers and

administrators have a high school diploma or less. Twenty-three percent of teachers and

administrators have a college degree, the fifth lowest percentage of the 43 states studies. Due to

the low wages earned, an average hourly rate of $7.48, early childhood teachers leave for higher

paying jobs as they become more educated. This is addressed in the proposed pilot program for

wage supplements based on educational attainment specific to early childhood education. Such a

model can be found in the WAGE$ Project in North Carolina, Florida, Kansas, and South

Carolina

(

http://www.childcareservices.org/ps/wage.html

).

The average annual cost of a childcare slot in New Mexico is $3,663.00 (CYFD Childcare Road

Map August 2007)

The CYFD contracts with the New Mexico T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood ® program to provide

scholarships to child care staff who meet eligibility criteria and who are willing to earn a college

House Bill 222 – Page

4

degree in early childhood education. New Mexico PreK teachers and educational assistants have

the same opportunity. Currently, there are 114 PreK teachers and teacher assistants (CYFD—82

and PED 32) receiving scholarships through the T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood ® program. The

scholarships from T.E.A.C.H. are vital to increase the number of teachers and teacher assistants

receiving degrees in early childhood education which will increase the quality of the PreK

programs. Currently, many of the PED PreK teachers and educational assistants do not have

licensure in early childhood education but in elementary education or K-8 licensure.

Poor Families in the State

•

More than 2 in 10 children are poor in this state. (Children’s Defense Fund, January

2003)

•

87,959 (13%) households in New Mexico make less than $10,000 annually, compared to

9% nationally. (HPC Quick Facts 2005)

•

19% of New Mexicans are poor of which 25% are children under 18

•

36% are families with female head of household with no husband present (US Census

2003 Data Profiles)

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Without financial assistance, it is possible that early childhood educators will not increase their

level of educational attainment, increase their salaries, or enhance their skills in teaching young

children.

DL/nt