In this file photo, 4-year-old Greyson Weber, right, and 3-year-old Zander Gonzales play with toys at Giraffe Laugh in Boise. (Jim Max for the Idaho Capital Sun)
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in 2025 will reopen applications to the Idaho Child Care Program with a lower income eligibility cutoff and a waitlist.
The state health agency in August paused applications to the program to avoid a projected $15 million budget shortfall .
Applications to the Idaho Child Care Program will reopen starting Jan. 13, 2025, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced in a news release Thursday.
Health and Welfare’s enrollment pause this summer also came with a delay to increasing rates paid to child care providers through the program. But next summer, those rates will rise.
The changes will make the Idaho Child Care Program “financially sound,” Health and Welfare said in the release.
“These combined changes to the program will restore eligibility to historical levels and this ensures we continue to serve Idaho’s neediest families while remaining within our appropriation,” the agency said.