32A-32-2. Definitions.

553 words·~3 min read·/nm/chapter-32a-children-s-code/article-32-child-care-assistance-program/32a-32-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

As used in the Child Care Assistance Program Act:

A. "at-risk child" means a child who may be vulnerable to or experiencing negative outcomes due to factors such as poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse, mental health issues, family involvement in the justice system, housing instability or homelessness; who has or is at risk of having a developmental delay or a disability; or whom the children, youth and families department identifies as experiencing or at risk for abuse or neglect;

B. "child care assistance" means funding administered by the department to a child care facility to provide child care for eligible children through the child care assistance program;

C. "child care facility" means a public or private entity, facility or premises that is licensed or registered and regulated by the department at which children receive child care services, including care, education and supervision, for less than twenty-four hours per day;

D. "consensus revenue estimating group" means the professional economists or revenue analysts from the department of finance and administration, the taxation and revenue department, the department of transportation and the legislative finance committee;

E. "department" means the early childhood education and care department;

F. "developmental delay" means a discrepancy between chronological age, after correction for prematurity, and developmental age in one or more of the following areas of development: cognition; communication; physical and motor development, including vision and hearing; social and emotional development; and adaptive development;

G. "disability" means a severe chronic disability of a person that is attributable to a mental or physical impairment;

H. "early intervention" means services provided through the family, infant, toddler program of the department that are designed to meet the developmental needs of children from birth to age three who have or who are at risk of having a developmental delay or disability;

I. "early intervention provider" means a person who provides early intervention;

J. "early pre-kindergarten program" means an early pre-kindergarten program as defined in the Pre-Kindergarten Act [Chapter 32A, Article 23 NMSA 1978];

K. "earned income" means income received as gross wages from employment or as profit from self-employment;

L. "incapacitation" means a person is unable to meet an eligibility requirement due to an inability to care for a child because of a disability, health-related illness, rehabilitation treatment or other reason as determined by the department;

M. "legal guardian" includes both a temporary and permanent legal guardian or custodian;

N. "pre-kindergarten program" means a pre-kindergarten program as defined in the Pre-Kindergarten Act;

O. "resident" means a person who is domiciled in New Mexico, including a person who is homeless or who is temporarily residing in a domestic violence or homeless shelter; provided that for the purposes of the Child Care Assistance Program Act, a person may have only one domicile; and provided further that for a federally eligible applicant, the applicant's residency determination shall be aligned with applicable federal regulations;

P. "tiered quality rating system" means the system developed by the department to rate the level of quality of a licensed child care facility; and

Q. "unearned income" means income in the form of benefits, such as benefits received pursuant to state and federal programs, child support, pensions, gifts, loans, grants and other income that is not income received as gross wages from employment or as profit from self-employment.

History: Laws 2026, ch. 63, § 3.