CRECER is focused on the following priorities:
Increasing the supply of quality child care for ages 0-5. Expanding the availability of high-quality early child care is essential in New Mexico to support parental workforce participation and provide crucial early learning experiences during children's most formative years.
Increase quality in the FOCUS system. Enhancing the FOCUS quality rating and improvement system is necessary to ensure consistent standards, guide providers towards best practices, and help families identify truly high-quality early childhood education settings.
Increase use of the child care subsidy. Boosting utilization of the state's child care assistance program is vital to make quality care affordable and accessible for eligible low-to-moderate income working families, thereby reducing financial barriers to early education and parental employment.
THE ACCELERATOR
THE Accelerator (Training Home Educators) is a state-wide, bilingual program for providers and prospective providers who want to grow and improve their family/home-based child care business. The six-month, intensive training helps increase the supply of quality child care for families and improves economic opportunities for caregivers.
2025 IMPACT
51 child care providers graduated from THE Accelerator
47% new providers; 53% already licensed or registered providers
64% Spanish speakers; 37% English speakers
48% increased their revenue
41% are caring for more children
89% reported their caregiving is better
About CRECER
CRECER stands for Capacity Resources for Enhancing Care, Excellence, and Resilience and means “to grow” in Spanish.
The CRECER initiative provides and leverages robust business development resources to increase the supply of high-quality licensed child care in New Mexico.
All resources from CRECER New Mexico are offered free of charge with funding from the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (NMECECD).
CRECER is a collaboration between of WESST, Growing Up New Mexico (GUNM), and Civitas Strategies. supported by New Mexico’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD).
