First round of grant funding open to expand child care access across Idaho

mother and child

The deadline to apply for the first round of child care expansion grants from the Idaho Workforce Development Council is Aug. 1, and council Executive Director Wendi Secrist expects the $15 million in available funding this fiscal year to quickly disappear.

City of Boise Offers Incentive Pay for Local Child Care Providers

child care provider

Beginning August 1, 2022, two thousand childcare providers and workers licensed in Boise will be eligible to apply for a one-time payment of $1,500. The Childcare Incentive Pay program accounts for $3 million of the $34 million in American Rescue Plan funding that is being directed into the community to serve Boiseans who have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications are scheduled to be open August 1 – 31, and checks will be issued October through November.

In face of childcare crisis, collaborative group seeks solutions

Teton County

In April of 2022, Building Blocks Early Learning Center owner Adrianna Green, who rents her facility on Little Avenue in Driggs, learned that the owner wanted to sell the property. She was told that the future owner would honor her lease, which expires at the end of the 2023 school year.

After funding loss, nonprofit group aims to boost early childhood education

Wood River, Idaho - Idaho AEYC News

Wood River Women’s Foundation teams up with Idaho AEYC to Start the Wood River Early Learning Collaborative.

By Tony Tekaroniake Evans | Idaho Mountain Express

Charitable organizations are stepping up to fill a gap in education funding resulting from political wrangling over early-childhood education in Idaho.

Early Education Advocates and Partners Gather for Early Learning Day at the Capitol

Keri, with the North Idaho Early Learning Collaborative, talking about their program at Early Learning Day at the Idaho State Capitol Building - Idaho AEYC News

On Wednesday, February 23, early education organizations from across the state gathered in the Idaho Statehouse for Early Learning Day, an event organized by the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children (AEYC), to share the work being done to enhance early childhood education within their communities.

Treasure Valley parents struggling to secure child care amid daycare staffing shortages

child holding teddy bear

Struggling to find affordable child care? You're not alone.

Finding and securing child care in the Treasure Valley is a lot easier said than done. Many parents are on year-long waitlists, in part, due to staffing shortages.

Read the entire article on KIVI Channel 6.

Federal Aid is Propping Up Child Care. It Isn't a Long Term Fix.

Children eating lunch at day care

By Sophie Quinton | Updated January 12, 2022 | Stateline Pew Trusts
Photo:  Elaine Thompson | Associated Press

Federal COVID-19 relief dollars for child care providers will continue to flow through the states this year, cheered by both Republican and Democratic governors who say parents need affordable child care to get back to work.