BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho legislature could send $43 million dollars in grant funding back to the federal government if the legislature doesn't give the Department of Health and Welfare permission to use the funds, according to the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children (IAEYP).
The federal funding comes in the form of grant money to both childcare programs in the form of facility grants and individual providers in the form of monthly wage enhancement grants. The funding was put in place in the Spring of 2020 to help childcare providers continue their work during the pandemic.
"If that happens, there is no way we can continue the work that we do," said Krystal McFarlane, the director of TLC for Tots, a childcare agency in Nampa. "We are already stretched thin. Very, very thin. And I can’t imagine trying to do that anymore.”
Beth Oppenheimer, the Executive Director of the IAEYP, says the impact of losing the grants could be devastating to the childcare industry in the state.
“700 small businesses are on the verge of collapsing," said Oppenheimer. "This is hurting Idahoans by simply not accepting the dollars that are intended to support Idahoans across the state."
The grant money is already allocated by the federal government for this program and the $43 million that could be lost was to be used between now and June of this year.
Idaho News 6 reached out to the Joint Finance Appropriation Committee, which oversees the money, for clarity on how and when this would take effect and about the reasons behind the decision, but they did not respond.
Prices of all things are rising, and childcare services are not an exception. The grant money that was expected to continue through June could now stop at any time. Something that would impact both the childcare providers and the parents of those children.
Oppenheimer says that leaves only two decisions for some providers.
“They can either close their doors or, potentially, they would increase their tuition even more so than it is now," said Oppenheimer. "Parents just won't be able to afford it.”
