New Health and Social Services Ombudsman seeks higher pay to recruit staff for foster‑care oversight

The Office of Health and Social Services Ombudsman told the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 15 that it needs increased personnel funding so it can recruit and retain staff to begin investigations and oversight work in Idaho’s foster‑care system.

Alex Williamson, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, reminded the committee that Senate Bill 1380 established the office within the Department of Self‑Governing Agencies and that the Legislature appropriated three full‑time positions and initial funding. The governor appointed Trevor Sparrow to the ombudsman post on Nov. 27, 2024, and Sparrow said he is assembling a staff and plans to adopt the United States Ombudsman Association standards for the office.

“We will . . . investigate complaints, make sure that the agency is handling those cases appropriately and ethically, and then we can make recommendations,” Sparrow told the committee, describing the office’s authority to receive complaints from parents, foster parents and other stakeholders and to conduct broader agency reviews without waiting for a specific complaint.

Williamson told the committee the office’s FY 2025 appropriation was $470,000—$450,000 ongoing—and included a one‑time $20,000 capital outlay amount to establish the office. Of the ongoing funds, the analyst said about $395,000 is budgeted for personnel costs. The Department of Human Resources reviewed the proposed position levels and recommended increasing personnel dollars so the office can hire at pay levels “above 80% of policy,” Williamson said; the governor’s recommendation supports that increase.

Committee members asked Sparrow to describe the scope of agencies his office will review. Sparrow said its primary focus is the foster‑care system but that statutory language allows investigations in other child‑residential settings, including juvenile corrections and other residential programs where children are housed.

Senator Wintrow and other legislators discussed potential coordination with citizen review panels—volunteer groups that review child‑welfare cases in the aggregate—and Sparrow said he has had productive conversations with Department of Health and Welfare staff about ways volunteers could assist with research and policy recommendations.

Sparrow described his background as an eight‑year director of the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy and said his office intends to build a multidisciplinary team that could include legal, nursing and social‑work expertise. He closed by reiterating the office’s goal of impartial oversight and recommending legislative reporting and staffing that align with established ombudsman standards.

Why it matters: The ombudsman office has investigatory authority over complaints in Idaho’s foster‑care system and could issue recommendations that affect agency practice and policy. The committee is considering whether to fund higher pay to make the office’s three positions competitive enough to recruit qualified candidates.