A year of free childcare for all in New Mexico: life-changing for many families, but long waits as places run short

A year ago in November, New Mexico became the first US state to offer free childcare to every eligible family, regardless of income. To qualify, families must be residents of New Mexico and adults in the house must be working, looking for work, in school or unable to work.

Dropping her daughter off at Kids Campus, a sought-after childcare centre in Santa Fe, Judyn Martinez said the school is amazing so far, her daughter loves it, and she is already learning and growing. Many parents, including Martinez, said universal childcare has been life-changing. 'I'm really grateful for universal childcare because I wouldn't have been able to send her,' Martinez said.

There is just one drawback for families: the state does not yet have the capacity to meet demand, which has left some families waiting without childcare. Martinez said it took her about a year and a half to get off the waitlist for Kids Campus — a waitlist that today has nearly 700 children on it.

When she first spoke in September, Lilia Doyle said her 2-year-old son was on six different waitlists. 'I'm 97th on a multi-hundred person waitlist. I'm 75th on something. And some, I'm not even getting calls back,' Doyle said. Doyle, a children's librarian with a background in early childhood education, lives in Santa Fe. She acknowledged she is selective about childcare, but said it should be easier. 'I have great belief in this program, but as it currently stands, I think the rollout needs a lot, a lot of help,' she said.

According to the state, New Mexico has about 67,000 children aged 5 and under, and about 50 percent of them are enrolled in the universal childcare program. Some of the remaining families take part in other free public programs, such as New Mexico PreK and Head Start.

But many children are not enrolled in any public, free childcare program, and it is hard to know exactly how many are in Doyle's position, unable to access universal childcare because of limited capacity. New Mexico officials acknowledged that the program needs to expand.

For the program to work for every family, it will have to overcome both a shortage of childcare workers and a shortage of childcare places — two challenges also playing out at national level. Across the country, policymakers and childcare advocates are therefore keeping a close eye on this Southwestern experiment.

Cynthia Osborne, who leads Vanderbilt University's Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, said New Mexico is 'going to provide lessons that the rest of the states are going to have to pay attention to.' She added: 'If New Mexico can show us how to build the infrastructure, I think other states will say that's an investment that we should make.'

But the challenges of building that infrastructure — and keeping costs under control — are very real. The program has built-in safeguards in case economic downturns make it harder to pay for, and one was recently triggered: the annual Consumer Price Index rose above 3 percent, which means wealthier families — those making more than $198,000 for a household of four — will soon have to start making a copayment. According to the state's Early Childhood Education and Care Department, that copay will not exceed $148.50 a month. The department says the change will affect about 10 percent of enrolled families and will remain in effect through the fiscal year.

Previously, New Mexico offered childcare subsidies to low-income families and free childcare to the lowest-income families, and for a while the state was raising the income limits for those programs. Kids Campus has capacity for about 130 children.