Idaho

Idaho AEYC is the leading advocate for state, local, and federal investments in early childhood education. Idaho AEYC’s network of parents, child care providers, early educators, and concerned citizens create an informed voice on what policies are needed to promote the goal of a sustainably funded, high-quality system of early education for all children. IAEYC partners with Idaho Voices for Children, who advocates on health and safety net issues on behalf of the state’s young children.

State Allies:

Top Priorities for 2021

Engage families of color and other Idahoans impacted by program inequities and access barriers to inform the coalition’s policy agenda.

Expand access to early learning and preschool programs, especially for children of color.

Promote investments in Idaho’s child care industry as an economic recovery tool.

Increase Medicaid eligibility and benefits for kids and pregnant women.

Protect access to essential safety net services, including food assistance, housing assistance, and the child care program in response to the COVID-19 recession and state budget cuts.

Secure long-term commitments in early childhood policy agenda from lawmakers and the governor.

Idaho’s 2020 Early Childhood Policy Landscape and Progress:

$3.91B STATE BUDGET
Estimated FY20 State General Fund Expenditures

ALIGNED GOVERNMENT
House (R), Senate (R)
Governor (R)

45% LOW-INCOME
97,894 Young Children (0-8) are Below 200% FPL

Idaho’s legislative session was ending as COVID-19 hit. During the session, advocates scored both policy and budget wins. Budget cuts primarily impacted K-12. Child care has received a lot of attention in Idaho during the pandemic, which should help propel child care policies in the future.

H549 revises provisions regarding child care facilities, provides for criminal history and background checks, provides standards for infant sleep areas, provides that persons guilty of certain offenses are ineligible for licensure, revises provisions regarding appeals of a suspension, revocation, or denial of a license (NCSL).
Increased the state’s investment in home visiting and successfully advocated for Idaho to allow Medicaid billing of home visiting services. Home visiting programs are now able to better utilize virtual visits to reach new parents and pregnant women isolated during the pandemic and in financial crisis.
Advocacy resulted in DHW revising the emergency grant application, and government spent down the child care CARES Act funding.
Encouraged the state to apply for additional family food assistance through the Pandemic-EBT. Idaho was last state to participate in program, which is now providing food to 135,000 Idaho school children.
Organized communities across Idaho to successfully urge governor to approve $15M in emergency rental assistance to those facing housing instability due to COVID-19.
Received Idaho’s first federal Preschool Development Grant. Idaho AEYC was the lead agency. PDG win will lay the framework for moving early childhood policy forward in Idaho.

*Early childhood policy progress in a state is the result of numerous efforts — by those listed on this page and many others — who worked both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.

More from Idaho:

Idaho Allies Get Two Big Wins for Home Visiting: Additional State Investment and Medicaid Coverage

February 26, 2021

Securing state funding to grow the reach and impact of home visiting programs was a top priority for Alliance for Early Success ally Idaho Voices for Children. Advocates working with the legislature have secured a third year of state funding for home visiting that not only doubled the state’s investment to $2 million, but directed the state to pursue billing Medicaid for home visiting services.