Celebrating Two Decades of Impact

For 20 years, Idaho Voices for Children has worked to elevate the well-being of Idaho’s children through data, advocacy, and action. This timeline highlights the key moments, hard-won victories, and growing impacts that have shaped our work across two decades. Each milestone reflects our commitment to ensuring every child in Idaho has the opportunity to thrive—and the collective effort of the advocates, partners, and supporters who make this progress possible.

2005 - 2025 Timeline:

2005

Idaho Voices for Children Incorporates

Idaho Voices for Children begins nonprofit operations and establishes a mission to advance a state level, unified policy agenda that targets child health, education, safety and family economic security. A special thank you to our founders: Hollis Brookover, Doug Fagerness, Linda Jensen, Karen Mason, Sue Reents, Mike Scholl, Harriet Shaklee, Susan Berning and LeAnn Simmons.

2008

Inaugural Children’s Champion Luncheon

We honor Congressman Mike Simpson during our first Children’s Champion Luncheon. The fundraiser is now our largest annual event, where we welcome over 350 community members and 30 corporate sponsors.

2010

First Piece of Legislation Passes

We pass our first piece of state legislation, S1382, to provide legal rights for relatives who are de-facto custodians of children and celebrate the bill being signed into law with Governor Otter.

2012

Child Fatality Review Team is Established

We help secure an executive order to develop a new statewide child fatality review task force.

2013

Book it Forward! Idaho is Formed

Book it Forward! is formed as a project of Idaho Voices for Children and begins collecting new and gently-used books to distribute to kids who have little-to-no access to reading at home. Since 2013, Book It Forward! has collected and distributed over 850,000 books.

2014

Coalition Develops to Expand Medicaid

We form Close the Gap Idaho and begin advocating to close Idaho’s health insurance coverage gap by expanding Medicaid. The coalition quickly grows, with thousands of activists and leaders engaged statewide.

2015

Idaho KIDS COUNT Data Center Goes Live

We unite with KIDS COUNT, a network of Annie E. Casey Foundation state partners, allowing us to better utilize data and analysis to inform policy recommendations.

2016

Legislature Funds K-3 Literacy Initiative

We advance our Grade Level Reading Campaign and pass H0526 and H0451, bills that fund literacy instruction for K-3 students reading below grade level.

2017

New Foster Care Advocacy Project

The Marilyn Shuler Foster Care Advocacy Fund is established to improve the lives of children in foster care. We then pass the Foster Care Improvement Act, S1341, that preserves foster sibling connections, increases family supports and begins child welfare outcome tracking.

2018

Idaho Voters Pass Medicaid Expansion

Idaho voters support expanding Medicaid to include Idaho’s lowest income adults at the ballot. We ensure Medicaid expansion is fully enacted and funded by the Idaho Legislature. In 2020, the program is implemented with 65,000 Idahoans gaining access to coverage.

2020

Pandemic Relief Becomes Top Priority

We rally advocates virtually to ensure no family loses their home during the COVID-19 pandemic and secure legislative approval for $15 million in emergency rental assistance. Building on this work, we pass SB1039a in 2023, the first-ever renter protection policy in Idaho to prevent unreasonable rental fees and fines.

2021

$100m for Child Care

We build a coalition of providers and parents to advocate for relief to keep child care businesses open and affordable. In the final hours of the session, legislators pass over $100 million to fund a Child Care Emergency Grant program.

2022

Mental Health Funding

We pass funding bills with record investments in Idaho’s youth behavioral health system, that bolster the number of health providers in the state, and that continue comprehensive Medicaid coverage for over 200,000 children.

2024

Proactive Child-Centered Policies Advance

We pass a record number of bills, including H0633,
Medicaid postpartum coverage extension to a year;
S1328, emergency youth shelter protections; S1379,
a ban on placing foster children in short-term rentals;
and S1380, the creation of a child welfare ombudsman.

2025

Providing a Critical Voice for Children

As funding for public programs is cut and partner organizations increasingly step away from policy work, we fill the void with data-driven advocacy. We lead multiple state and federal policy initiatives, including protecting Medicaid, promoting child care safety, supporting early learning and literacy, increasing foster youth supports and preserving housing and food assistance.

As Idaho Voices for Children celebrates 20 years of impact, this timeline captures the progress made through data-driven insight, strong advocacy, and meaningful action for Idaho’s kids. To explore the full story in depth, view the complete 20th anniversary timeline PDF, and if you’re inspired by this work, you can help power the next 20 years by making a donation.