UNM awarded contract for child care services in state

The state Children, Youth and Families Department has chosen the University of New Mexico to administer a program that provides training, technical assistance and on-site consultation and coaching to about 1,000 CYFD-licensed child care centers and licensed home-based day care providers throughout the state.

CYFD Secretary Monique Jacobson said Friday that UNM will be the sole contractor operating the Comprehensive Early Learning Training and Consultation System.

UNM was one of four contractors that previously provided this service. CYFD declined to renew the four contracts when they expired in July, resulting in the termination of nearly 100 early childhood education professionals employed by the four contractors.

CYFD instead opted to update and consolidate the consultant model and newly award a contract to a single contractor in a competitive bidding process for the services for the first time.

The contract is for $5.5 million a year for four years, funded by $3.54 million yearly from the state’s general fund, and $1.95 million yearly from federal grants.

Under the previous consulting model, each of the four contractors hired its own subcontractors. This caused inconsistent communication and messages regarding the best way to provide services to providers and ultimately to children, Jacobson said.

“It was all kind of piecemealed together before, and now it’s one overarching program,” she said.

In addition, about 10 percent of a contract’s cost is generally used in the administration of that contract, so awarding the contract to a single contractor results in significant savings. “We are now better able to meet the needs of our providers and be more efficient with our dollars,” Jacobson said.

Interim UNM President Chaouki Abdallah said, “We couldn’t be more pleased to continue our long-standing partnership with CYFD, and we intend to do our part to deliver quality services that enhance professional development for early learning programs. Our values are closely aligned with CYFD and we are extremely dedicated to contributing to their efforts to improve the outcomes of New Mexico’s children and families.”