Updated: October 13, 2026
What’s Inside?
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Reminders/Announcements
Background check rules are being rewritten: public hearing November 6
The Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) is proposing to repeal and replace 8.9.6 NMAC, Governing Background Checks and Employment History Verification. The new rule updates the language and structure, improves clarity, and aligns standards with recent amendments to the Criminal Offender Employment Act (Chapter 28, Article 2 NMSA 1978).
What the proposed rule does:
- Separates the standards for child care service providers from those for all other ECECD employees and department-contracted providers who are not child care service providers, in line with state and federal requirements.
- Clarifies “unreasonable risk.” Each group gets its own section, divided into evidence that automatically results in a determination of unreasonable risk and evidence that may be considered in making that determination.
- Confirms that clearances may be denied, suspended, or revoked if ECECD determines a person poses an unreasonable risk.
- Updates and expands the rehabilitation petition process, with more comprehensive criteria and evidence that may be considered in deciding whether an applicant has been rehabilitated.
- Reorganizes the rule and updates definitions throughout.
Copies of the proposed rule are available on the ECECD Regulation Changes page.
The public rule hearing
Friday, November 6, 2026, 10 a.m.–12 p.m., in Apodaca Hall of the PERA Building, 1120 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87502, and online.
- Online: Join the 8.9.6 NMAC hearing on Zoom, Webinar ID 873 8763 6767. The hearing will be livestreamed, and comments may also be submitted through the chat.
- By phone: 1-719-359-4580, Webinar ID 873 8763 6767. Callers can hear the full hearing, and comments made by phone will be recorded.
The hearing will be conducted in a fair and equitable manner by an ECECD agency representative or hearing officer and will be recorded. Any interested member of the public may attend and offer public comment, orally or in writing, including data, views, or arguments. Oral comments are limited to two minutes per person.
How to submit written comment
- By email to ECECD-ECS-PublicComment@ECECD.NM.Gov with the subject line “8.9.6 NMAC Public Comment”
- By first-class mail to P.O. Drawer 5619, Santa Fe, NM 87502-5619
- In person at the PERA Building, 1120 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, on November 6, 2026, between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.
Written comments are accepted until the hearing ends on November 6, 2026.
Questions? Contact Maria Spray at maria.spray@ececd.nm.gov.
Accommodations and language access: Spanish interpretation will be provided on Zoom and in person. American Sign Language (ASL) will be provided on Zoom. If you are a person with a disability and would like to request accommodations, or a person with limited English proficiency and need interpretation other than Spanish or ASL, please contact ECECD at ECECD-ECS-PublicComment@ECECD.NM.Gov or 505-670-8993 by October 27, 2026.
Loans starting at $100,000 for child care facilities — Applications Now Open
The Child Care Facility Loan Fund offers low-interest, long-term loans for major capital projects: expansion, renovations and repairs, new construction, or operating capital. It’s a partnership between ECECD and the New Mexico Finance Authority.
Why it matters: Financing is one of the hardest barriers to growing child care supply in New Mexico. This fund exists to make affordable capital available to providers ready to make serious investments in their programs.
Who’s eligible:
- Child care providers — individuals, private businesses, nonprofits, and entities owned or managed by tribal governments — who operate or plan to operate licensed home-based or center-based programs
- Employers who want to provide child care for their employees
- Not eligible: entities owned or managed by state or local government, including school districts and charter schools
The details:
- Loans start at $100,000
- Applications opened Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 12 p.m. and close Saturday, Oct. 31 at 5 p.m.
- Incomplete or late applications will not be reviewed
- Funds are limited and applications are scored competitively — bring a detailed, well-planned proposal
Worth knowing: Projects in McKinley, Santa Fe, Sandoval, Lea, Eddy, Bernalillo, and Doña Ana counties earn additional points on the scoring rubric. Loans are open to eligible projects statewide.
What’s next:
- Catch a September info session (join here — note this is a different Zoom link than the Community Call):
- Saturday, Sept. 12, 10–11 a.m.
- Apply, read the FAQ, and find application resources: nmececd.org/childcareloan
- Questions: ECECD.ChildCareLoan@ececd.nm.gov
The Public Education Department wants parents on its Family Cabinet
The New Mexico Public Education Department is accepting applications from parents and guardians who want to shape education policy across the state.
Why it matters: Family advisory bodies work when the families on them reflect the families in the system. That depends on who applies — which depends on who hears about it. Parents of young children are a group that PED hears from less often than it hears from parents of school-age kids, and the transition into kindergarten is exactly where early childhood and K-12 hand off to each other.
Cabinet members connect with other families, provide feedback on department work, and help strengthen family engagement statewide.
Go deeper: Apply for the NM PED Family Cabinet at bit.ly/PED-FamilyCabinet
Practice Lab is looking for Home Providers
New America’s New Practice Lab is inviting small home child care providers across New Mexico to a one-hour virtual interview, offered in English or Español.
Why it matters: What gets studied here is the paperwork and the process — how hard it is to start a small home program and become registered with ECECD. Providers who gave up partway through are as useful to this research as providers who finished, which is why former providers and people who only considered it are explicitly included.
Who they’re looking for:
- Current small home providers caring for up to four children who don’t live in the home
- Former small home providers
- Anyone considering becoming a home provider in the future
The details: Sessions are casual and anonymous. Identifiable information stays with the project team and is not shared with New Mexico ECECD. Participants receive an $85 Visa gift card.
Go deeper: Sign up for a New Practice Lab interview at tinyurl.com/ECECD-NPL — questions to NPL-research@newamerica.org.
Sacred Roots, Sovereign Futures moves to November 19–20
Sacred Roots, Sovereign Futures will now convene November 19–20, 2026. Earlier announcements listed September dates; please update your calendars.
The convening brings together Tribal leaders, educators, families, and partners to celebrate partnership, elevate Indigenous knowledge systems, and strengthen pathways for Native children, families, and communities.
Why the date matters: Anyone traveling from a Pueblo or Nation to attend is planning around distance, work, and family. A date change announced with two months of runway is the difference between a rescheduled trip and a missed convening. If you had September blocked, move it now.
What’s next: Venue, registration, and additional details will be announced soon.
If you are a person with a disability and would like to request accommodations, or a person with limited English proficiency and need language access, please email Melanie Valdez, Tribal Systems Alignment Specialist, at Melanie.Valdez@ececd.nm.gov or call 505-637-1898 by November 6, 2026.
Safer mealtimes: new guidance on feeding infants and toddlers in child care
ECECD’s Family Nutrition Bureau has released new guidance, Developmentally Appropriate Feeding Practices in Early Childhood Settings. It helps child care programs build safe eating skills with babies and toddlers and reduce the risk of choking.
Start with readiness, not just age. Most babies are ready for solid foods around 6 months, but some reach the milestones later. Feed based on the child’s skills. A baby is ready when they can:
- Sit up alone or with minimal support
- Control their head and neck well
- Open their mouth when food is offered
- Accept food without pushing it back out with the tongue
- Move food from the front of the mouth to the back
- Bring objects to their mouth and grasp small items with their fingers
Prep in the kitchen. For children under 4, cook hard foods like carrots until they mash with a fork. Cut food into pieces no larger than ½ inch. Cut round foods like grapes, cherries, and cherry tomatoes into small pieces. Cut hot dogs, sausage, and string cheese into short, thin strips. Remove seeds, pits, tough skins, and bones.
Safety at the table. Children should sit upright in a high chair or other safe place to eat, never lying down, walking, crawling, or in a car seat or stroller. Never prop a bottle. Keep mealtimes calm, model slow eating with small bites, and always watch children while they eat. Family-style dining helps.
Foods to avoid for children under 4 include popcorn, hard pretzels, nuts and seeds, spoonfuls of nut butter, ice cubes, dried or hard fruits and vegetables, and hard or sticky candy like caramels, gummies, and marshmallows.
Rule of thumb: Anything about as wide around as a nickel, roughly the size of a young child’s throat, is a choking risk.
Go deeper: Reducing the Risk of Choking in Young Children at Mealtimes from the USDA Food and Nutrition Administration · CDC: Choking hazards for infants and toddlers · Food handler and food manager training from the New Mexico Environment Department
Questions? For information about joining the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) or about nutrition classes for child care, email ECECD-CACFP@ececd.nm.gov.
Accommodations and language access: If you are a person with a disability and would like to request accommodations, or a person with limited English proficiency and need interpretation, please contact Cathy Lubold at cathy.lubold@ececd.nm.gov or 505-231-4703 by October 30, 2026.
Scholarship and Pay Parity applications moved — your saved link may no longer work
The applications for the ECECD Scholarship and Pay Parity programs have moved to a new online system. Current links and instructions are at ececdscholarship.org.
Why it matters: This is the kind of change that costs people money quietly. An applicant who bookmarked the old form last year gets a page that looks close enough to right, submits, and finds out weeks later that the application never landed. If you have a saved link, replace it before you apply.
What moved and what hasn’t: Scholarship and Pay Parity are the only two applications in the new system right now. Wage Supplement, Bilingual Incentive, and CDA Assessment Voucher applications will move over in phases — keep using your existing process for those three until they do.
Go deeper: View the Scholarship and Pay Incentive Programs flyer or contact the team at ECECD Scholarship and Pay Incentives, info@ececdscholarship.org or 505-224-3232.
Families in Universal Child Care: share your experience, get $85
New America’s New Practice Lab is inviting New Mexico families to share their experience with Universal Child Care Assistance in a one-hour virtual interview.
Who they’re looking for: Families with children currently enrolled in Universal Child Care Assistance, and families who are in the process of applying.
The details:
- Format: 1-hour virtual interview, in English or Spanish
- Setting: Casual and anonymous. Identifiable information stays private and isn’t shared outside the project team or with New Mexico ECECD.
- Thank-you: $85 Visa gift card
Sign up for a family interview
Questions? Email NPL-research@newamerica.org.
Home Visiting kicks off FY27
On September 21, 2026, ECECD’s Home Visiting team welcomed more than 114 supervisors, managers, and directors from Home Visiting providers across New Mexico to the Annual Home Visiting Fall Kick-Off at Hotel Albuquerque.
The day was a chance to come together, celebrate the past year, and look ahead to FY27. The Kick-Off highlighted:
- Achievements from the past year and the work Home Visiting programs are doing across the state
- FY27 goals and priorities to keep strengthening services and supporting families
- Important early childhood updates
- Time for providers to connect, collaborate, and strengthen partnerships
Events
October Early Childhood Community Call
You’re Invited to participate in September’s Early Childhood Community Call!
Join ECECD Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky and special guests on the first Tuesday of every month from 8–9 a.m., to discuss important issues pertaining to the New Mexico early childhood community.
The next Early Childhood Community Call will be Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Did you miss the most recent Community Call?
Click here for the recording Passcode: N^8U3^!d (Spanish translation is available under audio settings)
Presentation: October is coming sooon!
Zoom Meeting Details (same link every meeting):
Click here to Join via Zoom
- Telephone: 669-900-9128 or 253-215-8782
- Webinar ID: 958 5783 9577
Individuals who require a disability-related accommodation or language access services to participate in this event are asked to contact ececd-access@ececd.nm.gov at least 10 days in advance of the scheduled meeting.
Northern Early Childhood Sector Strategy Convening: October 15
Join early childhood leaders, employers, and workforce partners for a conversation about the workforce challenges facing New Mexico’s early childhood programs.
We want to hear from you. Share your experience with hiring, staffing, hard-to-fill positions, and other workforce needs. Your input will help shape strategies to build a stronger early childhood workforce across child care, Head Start and Pre-K, home visiting, early intervention, and other early childhood programs.
The details:
- When: Thursday, October 15, 2026, 2–5 p.m.
- Where: New Mexico Innovation Hub, 1055 Midtown Calle Central, Santa Fe, NM 87505, or online
Let's Talk Early Childhood: Universal Child Care community conversation, October 24
Join the Prenatal-to-3 Coalition, the Family Leadership Council, and ECECD for an update on Universal Child Care, plus presenters sharing information about more family resources and services in the area.
The details:
- When: Saturday, October 24, 2026, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
- Where: 9550 Pajarito Rd SW, Albuquerque, NM 87121
- Family-friendly event, with food provided and gift card raffles
To request accommodations or language interpretation, contact Jose Gonzalez at jose.gonzalez@ececd.nm.gov by October 19, 2026.
Northern Early Childhood Sector Strategy Convening: October 15
Join early childhood leaders, employers, and workforce partners for a conversation about the workforce challenges facing New Mexico’s early childhood programs.
We want to hear from you. Share your experience with hiring, staffing, hard-to-fill positions, and other workforce needs. Your input will help shape strategies to build a stronger early childhood workforce across child care, Head Start and Pre-K, home visiting, early intervention, and other early childhood programs.
The details:
- When: Thursday, October 15, 2026, 2–5 p.m.
- Where: New Mexico Innovation Hub, 1055 Midtown Calle Central, Santa Fe, NM 87505, or online
Register to attend in person · Register to join virtually
Can’t make it? Take the quick workforce survey to share your hiring and staffing challenges.
To request accommodations or language interpretation, contact Jamie O’Mally at Jamie.OMalley@ececd.nm.gov by October 19, 2026.
Golden Chile Awards and National Farm to CACFP Week: October 19
Congratulations to this year’s Golden Chile Award winners. Eighteen ECECD child care centers will be honored at the 2026 NM Grown Golden Chile Awards for bringing food grown or raised in New Mexico onto their menus, for fresher and more nutritious meals.
The NM Grown Golden Chile Awards celebrate NM Grown Buyers (early care centers, K-12 schools, and senior centers) and Approved Suppliers (farmers, ranchers, and food hubs) who help strengthen New Mexico’s food system.
The details:
- When: Monday, October 19, 2026, 4–7 p.m.
- Where: National Hispanic Cultural Center, Pete Domenici Education Center, Grand Hall, 1701 4th St SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102
- Attending: Each awardee organization receives two free registrations and can buy tickets for up to two additional guests at $20 each.
RSVP for the Golden Chile Awards
Also starting October 19: National Farm to CACFP Week. Child care centers and similar programs around the country will celebrate by adding more locally grown, raised, or produced foods to their menus, improving the quality, flavor, and nutrition of the meals they serve. CACFP is the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program. Learn about CACFP in New Mexico.
Questions about the awards? Contact Gabriel Gaarden at gabriel.gaarden@doh.nm.gov.
Accommodations and language access: If you are a person with a disability and would like to request accommodations, or a person with limited English proficiency and need interpretation, please contact Cathy Lubold at cathy.lubold@ececd.nm.gov by October 16, 2026.
Professional Development
Coalition Spotlight: Paso a Paso Network
ECECD supports 16 Local Early Childhood System Building Coalitions across 13 counties. Each coalition works to strengthen its community’s ability to deliver high-quality programs and services for children from birth to age 5. The coalitions advance New Mexico’s Early Childhood Strategic Plan and ECECD’s five-year plan, Florecer (2022–2027), by promoting community-driven solutions and strong local-state partnerships.
This issue, we’re featuring Paso a Paso Network. Serving communities throughout Taos County, Paso a Paso brings together community partners committed to strengthening the local early childhood system and improving connections to programs, resources, and supports for young children and families.
A career video series that’s traveling. Over the last quarter, Paso a Paso’s Goal 3: Workforce and Compensation Work Group kept sharing the Early Childhood Career Video Series, funded by the Brindle Foundation and developed in partnership with True Kids 1. The videos have been shared through:
- UNM-Taos social media accounts
- Paso a Paso’s social media channels and website
- Career fairs
- The ECECD Advisory Council meeting
- Other early childhood meetings statewide
Reaching beyond Taos County. The Otero County Early Childhood Coalition also showed the videos at a high school job and career fair. That expanded the project’s reach and showed its potential as a workforce development resource across the state. Coalition members keep meeting regularly to find new ways to use the videos and build on the project.
Connect with Paso a Paso. They are happy to share successes, challenges, and lessons learned along the way.
- Website: Visit the Paso a Paso Network website
- Email: Suzie Baca-Chavez, coordinator@pasotaos.org · Brandy Corry, admin@pasotaos.org
Live: New Mexico’s Professional Development Information System
New Mexico’s Professional Development Information System (PDIS) is now live. This free online platform centralizes education tracking, credentials, required trainings, and wages for all early childhood professionals.
Enrollment Deadlines
- Wednesday, July 1, 2026: Home Visiting and FIT programs.
Create Your PDIS Profile by clicking this link for the PDIS page on NMECECD’s website.
Support and Accessibility
- Technical Support: Email PDIS-Support@ececd.nm.gov
UNM’s fall CLASS training calendar is open for registration
Registration is open at nmels.org for six fall trainings from the UNM Early Childhood Services Center, most built around CLASS® 2nd Edition.
What’s offered:
- CLASS 2nd Edition Intro to Interactions for Educators — Infant–Toddler and Pre-K–3rd tracks, virtual and in-person
- CLASS 2nd Edition Overview for Leaders — two-hour facilitated online session for program leaders
- CLASS Environment Educator Overview — three-hour self-paced online, Infant–Toddler and Pre-K tracks
- Exploring Motion with Toddlers — in-person, hands-on STEM and language strategies
Worth knowing: The Leaders overview is aligned with the Pre-K–3rd educator training rather than separate from it, so a program leader and their teachers come away with the same vocabulary. Certificates for the CLASS courses are issued through Teachstone.
Go deeper: Register for UNM ECSC fall trainings at nmels.org — questions to nmels@unm.edu.
If you are a person with a disability and would like to request accommodations, or a person with limited English proficiency and need interpretation, please contact David Aldama at daldama@unm.edu or (505) 627-1063.
FOCUS Professional Development substitution: Two college courses now substitute for three FOCUS trainings
New Mexico educators now have the option to substitute certain college courses for three FOCUS training requirements. The substitution provides a path toward higher education while protecting educator time in the classroom.
The substitution
Either of the following college courses may be substituted for three FOCUS trainings:
- Guiding Young Children
- Family and Community Collaboration
Why it matters
The change credits prior coursework that already covers the content of three FOCUS modules — reducing duplicative training time for educators who’ve already learned this material in a college setting and reinforcing the higher-education pathway as a credential-building option.
Next steps
The full FOCUS training substitution flyer lists the eligible courses, the specific FOCUS trainings they substitute for, and the steps to apply the substitution. The flyer is available in English and Spanish.
• View the FOCUS training substitution flyer in English and Spanish
The New Mexico Panic Button: One-tap emergency response for early childhood programs
The Rave Panic Button is a mobile application designed to quickly alert authorities and simultaneously notify all on-site staff of an emergency at an early childhood program.
How it works
When activated, the Panic Button:
- Contacts authorities immediately, providing emergency responders with the program’s location and incident type
- Notifies all staff on-site at the same time, so emergency response protocols can begin without delay
- Reduces response time on both ends — staff coordination is faster, and first responders arrive better informed
Why it matters
In an emergency, the gap between an incident and an organized response is what costs the most — both in safety risk and in cognitive load on staff trying to coordinate while managing children. A single tap collapses that gap.
Learn more