Idaho Rejects Child Care Grants Despite Minimal Fraud

State audits find few issues, but lawmakers still concerned about potential misuse of funds

Apr. 2, 2026 at 1:41am

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The Idaho Legislature's budget committee has rejected allowing the state's Department of Health and Welfare to spend $16 million in federal funds to expand child care access, despite audits finding minimal fraud in the program. Lawmakers cited ongoing concerns about potential misuse of funds, even as the state agency reported that only 3.6% of providers had issues that required administrative action.

Why it matters

The decision to reject the child care expansion funds comes amid a national controversy over fraud allegations in state-run child care subsidy programs. While Idaho's audits found relatively few problems, some lawmakers remain wary, potentially limiting the state's ability to increase access to affordable child care for families.

The details

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee voted to reject the additional funding and five new jobs to investigate the Idaho Child Care Program, which provides subsidies to nearly 6,500 children. This came a day after the state health department released a report finding few instances of suspected fraud or other issues among the nearly 800 providers in the program. However, some lawmakers, including budget committee co-chair Rep. Josh Tanner, said they still had concerns about potential fraud, citing issues seen in other states.

  • On Tuesday, the Idaho Legislature's budget committee rejected the child care expansion funds.
  • On Monday, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare released a report on its audits of child care providers.

The players

Josh Tanner

An Eagle Republican and co-chair of the Idaho Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

Juliet Charron

Director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, which oversees the state's child care subsidy program.

Monty Prow

Deputy Director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

Alex Adams

A former budget chief for Idaho Gov. Brad Little who was nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Brad Little

The Governor of Idaho.

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What they’re saying

“Idaho is a very low – without a lot of fraud, we have not found a lot. But … we have found some within it. And that's something the department is actually taking action on.”

— Josh Tanner, Budget committee co-chair

“If we are given the resources to really kind of ramp up this work on a more year-round basis, I would expect that number to maybe even diminish further, which would be great.”

— Juliet Charron, Director, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare

What’s next

The Idaho Legislature is considering additional fraud prevention measures for the child care subsidy program, and a separate budget bill headed to Gov. Brad Little would set aside $64 million for family subsidies next fiscal year.

The takeaway

While audits found minimal fraud in Idaho's child care subsidy program, some lawmakers remain concerned about potential misuse of funds, leading them to reject expanding the program despite the state's efforts to improve oversight. This highlights the ongoing tension between ensuring program integrity and increasing access to affordable child care.