On October 21st, 2020 the state of Idaho finally opened the application for students and parents of students to apply for Covid-19 relief funds allocated by the state. Families can receive up to $1,500 per student or $3,500 per household to assist in the education process during the school year.

The decision was made by Governor Brad Little to allocate 50 million dollars worth of relief funds towards school districts and families in those school districts after he toured many different school districts and saw the need for the funds. The program is called “Strong Families Strong Students” and is designed to assist in the learning process that otherwise might be defective because of technological needs due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The program is designed to first allocate funds to families who need them the most, then on a first-come-first-serve basis the rest of the funds will be distributed. All funds will be distributed by December 31st and all funds must be spent by the end of June.

Now as for the application process, I had the chance to sit down and observe and interview a family that was going through the process of applying for these funds. According to one of the family members, the process was “confusing, slow, and took a very long time.” I observed this firsthand as the total time for the process took an hour and 45 minutes to complete.

The state of Idaho is doing a good thing by allocating these funds, but in the long run should work to shorten and ease the process of applying for them.