News
Investing in Communities and Our Children
March 16, 2016
New Mexico’s Office of Child Development is developing its approach to community ECIZ capacity building and planning through collaboration with Coop Consulting, Inc. and the University of New Mexico’s Family Development Program. Coop Consulting has over two decades’ experience supporting coalition development and evaluation in communities throughout New Mexico. The Family Development Program has 30 years of experience providing community-based training to statewide partners.
With support from both the federal Maternal Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) and RTT-ELC grants, work is currently underway to partner with local community members to develop sustainable early childhood coalitions and provide training for early childhood leadership, high quality early learning and social-emotional informed practices. The initial 13 investment zone communities include: Deming, Tularosa, South Valley Albuquerque, Gallup, Gadsden, Hobbs, Espanola, Santa Rosa, Raton, Magdalena, Cuba, Grants, and Estancia.
“The Early Childhood Investment Zone approach takes time and continuous community-based adaptation,” University of New Mexico’s Family Development Program Director Lois Vermilya explained.
She added that the importance of building respectful relationships within each Early Childhood Investment Zone community is essential. “Regular monthly visits to each ECIZ community is a priority, recognizing that respectful relationship building is foundational for the initiative's success.”
And while the initiative is refining its model for how to work effectively with each community, Vermilya said, “It is clear that the approach has to be adapted to meet each community's unique character and needs. Continuous listening and learning is guiding our planning and the evolution towards expanded implementation.”
Feedback received from ECIZ community members thus far includes:
“While facilitating NM Pyramid Infant/Toddler Modules in Roswell in January I met 2 people from Clovis who work for MECA Therapies. Both had attended 7 Essential Skills and the Leadership Institute in Tucumcari. They found the life skills very helpful in terms of their work with children and families. They are using the Leadership Toolkit within their organization with staff.
Paula Steele
Family Development Program
“I appreciate learning about young children’s development [through essential skills], because it’s not something I ever studied. It would be helpful to anyone.”
General Practice Physician
Cuba Early Childhood Investment Zone
“You can really see the alignment among the statewide outreach efforts: Full Participation, the Pyramid training, and Mind in the Making – each one supports the other.”
Coalition Member
Magdalena Early Childhood Investment Zone
“I just attended the NM Pyramid Training, and it fits so well with the Mind in the Making sessions we did last Spring. Now I’m trying to figure out how to share this information in a way that is integrated with the families we serve in our program.”
Coalition Member
Gallup Early Childhood Investment Zone
“Mind in the Making opened my eyes regarding the importance of teaching kids others perspectives by discussing feelings of characters in stories we read to them.”
Mind in the Making Training Participant
Tucumcari Early Childhood Investment Zone
For more information about ECIZ, contact