CYFD consultants lose contracts as funding drops
As funding drops, department to streamline early education support services in FY 2018
State contracts with providers of teacher training, technical support for nearly 1,000 early childhood and home-based day care centers end this week.
State contracts with several agencies that have provided teacher training and technical support for nearly 1,000 early childhood and home-based day care centers across New Mexico are set to end this week as the Children, Youth and Families Department moves forward with plans to overhaul those services in the new fiscal year.
The decision is partly based on the loss of $2.5 million in federal funds. The state’s Race to the Top education grant from the U.S. Education Department is expiring, a department spokesman said, reducing the budget for early learning support services to $5.5 million in fiscal year 2018, which begins Saturday, from $8 million in the current fiscal year.
The drop in funding is another hit for a state that has struggled with an ongoing financial crisis, as well as an education system that consistently ranks near the bottom and has been working to expand and improve the quality of its early childhood services so that young children can have a stronger start in school.
Children, Youth and Families Secretary Monique Jacobson said the goal of the streamlining process, in which a single new contractor will offer the free support services to child care and preschool providers statewide, is to funnel as much available funding as possible into classrooms and spend less on administrative costs.
“How can we be as effective with every dollar that we have and, also, how can we be the most efficient?” she said.
The phone lines at some of the consulting agencies for early learning centers were already dead Thursday.
A voicemail message at the phone number for one Northern New Mexico consultant said that as of Saturday, she would no longer be offering services. The worker, one of about 100 affected by the contract changes, told callers not to leave a message.
Senate Democrats on Thursday raised concerns about the support program shake-up.
“Next week, over 100 early childhood professionals are losing their jobs,” Jim Farrell, a spokesman for Senate Democrats, said in an
email to The New Mexican .“… These programs provide on-site support, coaching and mentorship that promote best practices when working with young children.”
In late April, the Children, Youth and Families Department issued a request for proposals for a new contractor. The deadline for bids was June 8, and a contract award is scheduled for Aug. 1. Previously, Jacobson said, contracts for the consulting services were awarded without a competitive bid process.
The new vendor is expected to be fully operational across the state by September or October, department spokesman Henry Varela said. Until then, he said, a state-based nonprofit regional education cooperative will offer the services on a temporary contract.
Department staff members also are prepared to step in and make visits to early learning centers that need assistance with licensing, professional development and other services, Jacobson said. “We do have a plan so there’s no gap in services.”
Farrell, in his email, questioned whether the Children, Youth and Families Department’s transition plan would be sufficient. He also suggested the state was wasting thousands of dollars by leaving furniture and equipment in the offices of former contractors.
State Sen. Howie Morales, a Silver City Democrat, raised similar concerns about the support program changes in an interview Thursday. “I think it’s something that’s little known that’s going to have a big impact,” he said, adding, “I think relationships have been damaged. It just has been an abrupt end. … We don’t want any gaps in services.”
He also accused the department of failing to collect furniture from contractors. “Those items belong to the state,” he said.
But Jacobson said the Children, Youth and Families Department didn’t provide office equipment to any contractors. “We don’t own that furniture,” she said.
Jacobson acknowledged that professional consultants would be displaced by the contract change, at least temporarily, but said no jobs would be lost.
“We’re still going to need consultation,” Jacobson said. “There will still be a need for consultants throughout the state.”