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Committee approves RS 31946 to clarify review timelines for some foster care placements
Summary
Sen. Melissa Wintrow asked the committee to print RS 31946 to amend last session's statute, clarifying review timelines so short-term placements are subject to a 14-day review while residential treatment placements can follow a 90-day review schedule.
Sen. Melissa Wintrow told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee that RS 31946 narrows an earlier statute to reduce administrative burdens on residential treatment programs while preserving scrutiny of short-term placements.
Wintrow said the prior language — enacted last session to prevent foster children from being placed in short-term rentals such as Airbnbs — unintentionally swept in residential treatment facilities and imposed an administrative burden that diverted staff attention from direct care. The RS as filed would specify a 14-day review for short-term placements and allow a 90-day review cycle for residential treatment placements.
"We got a call from someone in Eastern Idaho from one of the facilities who said, 'We are swimming with administrative burden on these cases, exceeding even what the federal government would require,'" Wintrow said. She said the department and local stakeholders, including Idaho Voices for Children, collaborated on the change.
Senator Bierke moved to send RS 31946 to print and Senator Keiser seconded; the committee approved the motion by voice vote.
The RS was presented as a technical and programmatic fix to reduce administrative workloads while keeping case review requirements for placements, and the sponsor said she would provide more detail at the public hearing.
