About us

Idaho's Expert Knowledge and Resources

IdahoSTARS is the leading expert and resource for quality child care in Idaho. We empower parents and early childhood professionals to make safe, healthy, nurturing, and educational child care a top priority. We support child care professionals to continually improve early care and educational practices.

This is a joint project between the Idaho Center on Disabilities and Human Development and the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children. It is funded by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the Child Care and Development Block Grant.

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Our Goals

Increase the qualifications of Idaho early care and education professionals.
Increase quality practices in Idaho early care and education programs.
Build knowledge of and investment in high quality early care and education.
Increase the number of families participating in ICCP who enroll their children in high quality early care and education programs.

Our Accomplishments

Since 2003, IdahoSTARS has:

Successfully managed the child care provider eligibility component for the Idaho Child Care Program (ICCP) child care assistance for low-income families.
Provided a fully coordinated statewide Child Care Resource Center (CCRC) network, with 7 regional offices, to provide technical assistance, coaching and resources to child care providers and parents.
Implemented a statewide Professional Development System(PDS) for child care providers with a trainer/training approval component, academic and training scholarships, a statewide registry and educational pathway and professional incentives.
Developed and directed a statewide Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) for continuous quality improvement of Idaho child care programs.
Prioritized and embedded considerations for children and families with diverse needs and abilities within all quality initiatives.
Partnered with many other Idaho agencies and organizations to coordinate early care and education throughout the state.

We're Listening

In November 2022 we sent out a survey to early care and education professionals about their careers and the state of child care. We heard from nearly 1100, please read their responses in the Early Care and Education Professional survey below.
We also surveyed Child Care Program Owners and Directors to get first hand information about their businesses and the state of child care in Idaho. Please read the nearly 500 responses we received in the Child Care Owner and Directors Survey below.

Early Care and Education Professional Survey 2022 (PDF), Child Care Owner and Director Survey Results 2022 (PDF)

In October 2021, we surveyed over 5800 early care and education professionals about their experiences with IdahoSTARS. We’re using their voice to make decisions about the way we work with them. Read all the survey responses below.

Download the We're Listening Survey Results (PDF), En Español (PDF)

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Idaho's Expert Knowledge and Resources

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