Idaho halts accepting new families after $15M budget shortfall in childcare grant program
Children engage in playtime at God’s Creation Christian Daycare Center and Preschool in Nampa in March. A budget shortfall has prompted state officials to curb an aid program for poor, working families. SARAH A. MILLER [email protected]
A child care program for low-income children in Idaho faces a $15.5 million budget shortfall this year, after the state expanded eligibility and reduced what families are required to pay each month while day care costs rose, according to the Health and Welfare Department.
The deficit has prompted state health officials to temporarily stop accepting many new families into the Idaho Child Care Program, which partially covers child care costs for low-income families with working parents, Health and Welfare Director Alex Adams said at a news conference Tuesday. The anticipated shortfall is more than 29% of the program’s overall budget for this fiscal year, which ends in June 2025.
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