Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Dhw Reorganization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Health and Welfare proposes reorganization to align budget structure with operations; creates CFO post
Summary
Department of Health and Welfare presented a reorganization that renames divisions, moves programs into Medicaid, and creates a chief financial officer and a legislative/regulatory affairs office to improve lines of accountability and align budgeting with operational structure.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) on Jan. 13 told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee it is proposing an internal reorganization to align the department's budgeted divisions with where work is performed, and to improve lines of visibility and accountability.
Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, walked the committee through the proposed changes: splitting out Family and Community Services, renaming Support Services and Licensing to the Division of Operations, grouping Public Health and Self Reliance as Health and Human Services, and creating a new division titled Child, Youth, and Family Services. Under the proposed structure, child welfare would be titled Youth Safety and Permanency, service integration would become Family and Community Partnerships, and developmental disability services would become Early Learning and Development. The office proposes moving Extended Employment Services (EES) and community developmental disabilities programs under Medicaid for budgeting alignment.
"This change is not because there are Medicaid dollars in EES specifically, but because the staff that are administering this program fall under the division of Medicaid," Williamson said.
Alex Adams, director of the Department of Health and Welfare, told the committee the reorganization is intended to improve "line of sight" and accountability across a large agency. He said DHW employs about 3,000 people across 74 buildings at 37 locations and that the new structure will put similar functions and funding relationships under clearer management.
"How you structure that organization matters," Director Adams said. "Budgets are laws, not suggestions."
Adams also said he created a chief financial officer position that reports directly to the director and established a chief of legislative and regulatory affairs to centralize responses to legislators and manage tribal relations and public records requests. Staffing moves on the organization chart include promoted or newly hired leaders with prior executive-branch experience; Adams said 15 of the 22 named leadership seats are new or in new roles.
Why it matters: The reorganization seeks to align how DHW is budgeted at the legislature with how its staff and programs are actually structured internally. Lawmakers said that alignment should make committee oversight and follow-up questions more direct and help match appropriations to operational responsibilities.
What to watch next: The committee will consider the reorganization as part of the DHW program-maintenance budget; the agency will present division-level budget hearings through January, February and into March for Medicaid.
