Idaho juvenile corrections director flags rising mental‑health and treatment costs; requests cover radios, SUD program

The Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Feb. 18 that the agency is seeing increased mental‑health needs among youth in custody and is requesting several budget items to respond, including a $300,000 ongoing request for residential substance‑use disorder (SUD) treatment and a $380,000 one‑time radio upgrade.

The budget analyst, Noah Peterson, told committee members the SUD residential treatment daily cost rose from about $198 per day in 2021 to $399 per day in August 2021, and that the average length of stay increased from 31 days to 67 days over the same period. "This $300,000 request is to make up the difference from what was previously covered by health and welfare," Peterson said, explaining that the Department of Health and Welfare used ARPA funds to offset part of those increases but is no longer able to do so.

Director Ashley Dowell told the committee she is "concerned about just the level of mental health we're seeing in the…