House Health and Welfare Committee reviews Health and Welfare budget; foster care supplemental highlighted

BOISE — The House Health and Welfare Committee on the morning it convened approved routine minutes and spent the remainder of its session reviewing the Department of Health and Welfare’s budget request, focusing on a $14 million supplemental for foster care, updated Medicaid population forecasts and several federal grants that require spending authority.

The presentation was led by Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, and Director Alex Adams of the Department of Health and Welfare answered committee questions. Representative Egbert moved to approve the committee minutes from Feb. 5, Feb. 6 and Feb. 10; the motion passed on a voice vote.

The supplemental most discussed was a $14 million request to cover fiscal-year 2025 overages in child welfare, which the department described as driven by rising mental-health and substance-use needs, a shortage of community-based placements and increased use of higher-cost congregate care settings. "When I started, we had 176 kids in short term rentals. As of November, we have 0," Director Adams said, describing the Payette Assessment and Care Center and other placements as part of a strategy to move children out of short-term rentals into more home-like settings. Adams said the department originally projected the current-year shortfall at $24…