City outlines transition plan as state assumes childcare licensing under new law

Boise City staff on Tuesday briefed City Council on plans to support local childcare providers during a state takeover of licensing, saying the city will continue local licensing through June 30, 2025, and work to minimize service disruption after House Bill 243a takes effect July 1.

Mayor Callister opened the discussion by saying the legislation removes the city’s local option to license childcare and directed staff to prioritize providers and families during the transition. "We do all we can to take care of people," the mayor said.

Jamie, a city staff member overseeing the transition, told council the legislation — referred to in the presentation as House Bill 243a — will shift licensing responsibilities to the state on July 1, 2025. "House Bill 243a will become effective on July 1, 2025," Jamie said. Staff reported the city had licensed a little more than 200 child care facilities and about 1,900 child care workers as of February; the city’s code compliance team had conducted about 500 compliance inspections and completed background-check reviews for about 2,200 individuals.

Jamie explained key differences between city standards and the state’s new program. Boise’s licensing includes annual background checks for workers and annual compliance inspections for facilities, while staff said the state plans to check facility licenses every two years and individual background checks less frequently (staff said the state would background-check individuals approximately every five years). City standards also have more stringent staff-to-child ratio rules and have incorporated local healthy-initiative standards (screen-time limits, nutrition targets, outdoor-play expectations and breastfeeding accommodations), which Jamie said the state is not expected to adopt.

Staff described operational impacts: the Boise Fire Department will absorb approximately 80 additional in-home fire inspections previously performed by the city code compliance team; planning and zoning review requirements for facility siting will remain a city responsibility and may become a separate step in the application process under state licensing; and the city expects a net revenue loss of about $72,000 because licensing fee revenue will no longer fund the local program.

To reduce disruption for providers and families, city staff presented a transition plan that continues city licensing and background checks through June 30 and asks the state to honor existing city license expiration dates and waive duplicate fees. For licenses expiring between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, staff said they will extend city licenses through Dec. 31, 2025, to reduce the risk that providers lose access to federal or state funds tied to licensure.

Jamie said the city has stood up a website and an email-and-mail outreach plan with FAQs, translated letters as needed and renewal reminders that include state contacts. Staff also warned the council that without local licensing the city cannot continue its property-tax rebate program for in-home providers because the city will no longer have inspection or licensing data to verify eligibility; the presentation said about 92 percent of qualifying in-home providers had applied for that rebate.

Council members asked whether the Department of Health and Welfare and state officials had engaged on the transition. Jamie said the city had a conference call with state staff and had received follow-up email communications; the state has indicated it will accept existing city licenses as described. Staff also said they will request whatever licensing data the state can legally share after the transfer to support continuity and follow-up inspections or outreach.

Staff said they will work with legal and policy teams to repeal or amend city code provisions related to licensing and return with ordinances as needed. The council did not take formal action; staff said they will continue to support providers and families through the transition and report back to council on progress.