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Child care funding, SWITC updates and STAR certification drawn into committee budget review
Summary
Committee heard requests and updates on early learning and development programs, a governor recommendation to add $15 million one-time to the Idaho Child Care Program over three years, and progress and spending on the Southwest Idaho Treatment Center and STAR certification work.
BOISE, Idaho — Lawmakers on Feb. 20 reviewed funding and operational updates for early learning, child care and services for people with developmental disabilities, including a governor-recommended one-time installment of $15 million for the Idaho Child Care Program (ICCP) and a request for $4.2 million ongoing.
Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with Legislative Services, told the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee the governor recommended distributing approximately $45 million in one-time federal Child Care and Development Block Grant funds by allocating $15 million in each of the next three years to the ICCP. The department also requested $4.2 million ongoing for the program.
Director Alex Adams said the department confronted a budget shortfall in ICCP last year. “My base budget for last year was $52,700,000. I spent $52,700,000. If we treated it as an entitlement, I would have needed $68,200,000. So I would have needed $15,400,000,” Adams said, describing actions the department took to pause new enrollments and to protect vulnerable subgroups while balancing the budget. He said the department has since lifted a pause and resumed enrollments in January.
Committee members asked about program oversight and prior corrective steps; Adams said the department reorganized early-learning functions under a new division and appointed leadership to address past problems and to coordinate infant-and-toddler services, Head Start partnerships and ICCP operations.
Members also discussed the Southwest Idaho Treatment Center (SWITC) and an associated STAR certification effort intended to expand a clinical model for crisis care. Williamson described a one-time request of $249,200 for year three of a four-year START certification rollout. Department staff told the committee some START-model training has been used at SWITC and that enrollment in one team’s START-based service rose in early February after staffing changes.
Senator Cook asked about a nearly $1 million permanent building fund request for a walk-in cooler at SWITC. Division administrator Lisonbee Tate said buying food in bulk and staging meals in a central cooler could reduce overall food costs for SWITC and for State Hospital West, where smaller facilities now purchase food in smaller quantities. “We think we can probably cut their food costs close to half by buying in bulk,” Tate said.
Williamson also highlighted prior SWITC supplementals for crisis patient treatment and one-time funds for infant-and-toddler service coordination; the fiscal 2024 supplementals for those items were made ongoing in fiscal 2025. The division reported 306.71 authorized FTP with about 38.71 vacancies, some positions held under review to manage personnel costs.
Committee members asked the department to provide a written report on START certification progress that is due later this summer, and they sought additional detail on ICCP enrollment, eligibility and any corrective actions taken after the program encountered budget stresses.
