‘A workforce infrastructure issue’: Panelists discuss Idaho childcare challenges

Without childcare, the economy stalls.

Chalayne Pribyl, director of Nurturing Nest Childcare in Post Falls, knows all too well. 

Budget cuts mean less support for people who need childcare. Less support means childcare centers lose out. 

“I lost money, I lost attendance,” Pribyl said. “(Parents) lost jobs or had to quit. Some of them were working from home and just kept their children at home and tried to manage that.” 

During a discussion hosted by the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber at the Hagadone Event Center on Tuesday, panelists emphasized impacts and potential solutions to childcare challenges in Idaho.

In addition to Pribyl, panelists included Louisa Rogers and Brittaney Selle of North Idaho College’s Center for New Directions, as well as Kootenai Health Chief People and Culture Officer Cydny Donato and Rosa Mettler, executive director of Canopy Village, Inc., which provides services for women and children.

Sara Welch, director of education for United Way North Idaho, was the main speaker.

The challenges discussed Tuesday centered around Idaho Child Care Program budget shortfalls and House Bill 243. The bill, signed by Gov. Brad Little in 2025, deregulates childcare services to address the state’s childcare shortage.

According to Welch, HB 243 means Coeur d’Alene’s Childcare Commission no longer issues direct childcare provider licenses. It also changed the adult provider-to-infant ratio from one adult for four children to one adult for six.

“We lost our local right to regulate childcare,” Welch said. 

Childcare challenges have created multiple negative impacts on Idaho families, data from United Way shows. In 2024, 25,000 parents either left or lost a job, while 20,000 Idahoans reported having to work part-time due to these issues.  

Meanwhile, childcare-related absences and turnover have created an estimated $414 million in annual employer costs.

“Affordable, accessible childcare is a workforce infrastructure issue,” said Linda Coppess, president and chief executive officer of the Coeur d’Alene Regional Chamber.

Childcare centers are also dealing with high costs and low pay, which led to about 45 closing in Idaho in 2024 alone, data shows. With the median hourly wage for Idaho childcare workers at $14.50, turnover in this workforce is 37%.

This is causing childcare facilities to absorb increasing costs. Others dissolve, which creates an influx of kids for neighboring centers.

“Our waiting list is bigger than our children class size,” said Donato, noting that Kootenai Health’s employee childcare services have 145 kids in its program. “We’re going to need a new building.”

Then there are the parents themselves.

Rogers said state-level changes to the Idaho Child Care Program had a “huge impact” on clients at the Center for New Directions. In 2025, Idaho lowered the childcare assistance threshold for a family of four from 175% to 130% of the federal poverty level.

In other words, any family of four making more than $3,483 per month does not qualify for initial assistance.

Rogers shared a story of one client affected by this change. 

The Center for New Directions was working with a single mother with three kids under 5. She was making about $3,550 per month, and at the time she was receiving benefits from the Idaho Child Care Program. With the support, her out-of-pocket childcare expenses were $650 a month.

When the income limit changed, she was kicked off the state’s childcare subsidy program. Suddenly, her childcare costs increased to $3,000 a month.

“So, we have a single mom, working full-time, with a $3,000 monthly childcare payment, making $3,550. She had rent, she had a car payment, she had utilities, she needed to buy essentials just like all of us,” Rogers said. “How is that possible? And the answer is, it’s not possible. And so, what she had to do was resign from her job.”

Tuesday’s panel, however, ended on a high note: solutions.

United Way of North Idaho awarded $88,745 in ALICE childcare scholarships last year. It also provided 721 professional development training hours, which include early childhood education.

Welch also encouraged businesspeople in Tuesday’s audience to utilize what’s called the 45F employer-provided childcare credit. The federal tax credit helps businesses cover childcare assistance costs for their employees.

Coppess encouraged more folks to vote. 

“The only realistic thing you can do,” Pribyl said, “is stand up for us.”

    Brittany Selle, a special populations case manager at North Idaho College's Center for New Directions, participates in a panel discussion about childcare at the Hagadone Event Center in Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday.
  

    The Coeur d'Alene Regional Chamber hosts a panel discussion on childcare, titled "Workforce Connection: Childcare, Programs & Solutions That Support Working Families," at the Hagadone Event Center in Coeur d'Alene on Tuesday.