Child care coverage for more families

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - Hundreds of New Mexico families will once again be able to afford child care.

Gov. Susana Martinez and Children, Youth and Families Department Secretary Yolanda Deines announced a significant change to the state's child care subsidy program Friday afternoon.

It will help day care centers which had to cut their budgets. They'll be getting an extra 4 percent that will be put back into their classrooms and into teachers pockets. The state is also funding an additional 1,300 slots for low-income children who have been on a waiting list.

"Within the past year many of us were struggling," said Crystal Tapia who owns Noah's Ark Children's Center in Albuquerque. "We're having a difficult time just making ends meet."

Tapia says 80 percent of her clients are getting help from the state. She says the lack of funding also affects the state's economy.

"Our industry does not just affect the child, but the small business next to us," said Tapia. "It effects that food supplier that they deal with. When we hurt, they hurt."

The extra money is coming from cost-saving measures in the CYFD run program. The changes start Nov. 1. Families who are about to get off the waiting list can expect a phone call sometime afterward.