Pathways to support: Determinants of child care subsidy and service utilization among immigrant families in a U.S.–Mexico border community

This study examined determinants of formal childcare utilization and subsidy program participation among immigrant families in New Mexico’s borderlands, where progressive state policies contrast with federal immigration enforcement. Through a community-based participatory approach, we surveyed 227 immigrant caregivers of children under age 8, applying an adapted Andersen’s Behavioral Model to identify significant predisposing, enabling, and need factors. Approximately one-third of participants received childcare subsidies (32.6%) or used formal childcare services (34.4%). Multivariate analyses revealed that positive attitudes toward mental health help-seeking and higher utilization of public assistance programs significantly predicted both outcomes, while having more children, childhood trauma history, and housing insecurity were associated with formal childcare use in domain-specific models. These findings suggest two interpretations: help-seeking attitudes may indicate broader cultural orientations regarding external assistance, or alternatively, childcare engagement may alter caregivers’ perspectives on seeking professional help through normalized interactions with early childhood professionals. The strong correlation between public assistance utilization and childcare access highlights how childcare centers may function as resource brokers for immigrant families, potentially serving as less threatening entry points to formal service systems. These results emphasize the importance of culturally responsive outreach addressing help-seeking attitudes, streamlined connections between public assistance and childcare services, and developing multicultural competencies among childcare staff. This research contributes to strength-based approaches by framing service utilization as evidence of parental resourcefulness, recognizing immigrant families’ strategic navigation of complex systems to optimize family wellbeing.