Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Reentry And Sud topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Idaho’s community corrections requests staffing, transitional housing and opioid‑treatment pilot
Summary
Community Corrections seeks funding to annualize staff at a Pocatello reentry center, expand transitional housing, add drug testing that detects fentanyl and start a pilot to provide medications for opioid use disorder while incarcerated.
The Idaho Department of Correction requested ongoing funds for community reentry operations, transitional housing and opioid‑use disorder treatment pilots during a Feb. 4 budget hearing.
Noah Peterson, legislative budget analyst, told the committee the Community Corrections Division has 511.35 FTP and requested annualization of personnel for the Pocatello Community Reentry Center. The agency previously received six months of personnel funding for 17 positions; the FY2026 enhancement would provide the full annual personnel cost of about $680,700 and bring the Pocatello center to roughly $2.4 million in ongoing operations if approved.
Other requests include $750,000 for transitional housing and reintegration services, $721,200 to expand drug testing that includes opioids such as fentanyl, and $580,400 for behavioral‑health treatment capacity. The division also requested 6 FTP and $616,500 ongoing for parole officers in Districts 3 and 4 and 2 FTP to create a pilot program to provide medications for opioid use disorder while people are incarcerated; those pilot case managers would coordinate treatment after release.
Why it matters: the agency framed these actions as efforts to reduce recidivism by increasing community supports and by ensuring people receive evidence‑based treatment while incarcerated and after reentry. Peterson noted a five‑year average growth in this division’s base of 9.7 percent, reflecting prior investments in reentry centers and supervision staff.
Questions and follow-up: Senator Wintrow asked whether the division’s gap analysis on mental‑health and substance‑use services should be discussed in this part of the presentation; Director Tewalt said the division’s work now shows improvement and that thousands of individuals have received mental‑health and substance‑use treatment under the expanded system. Tewalt agreed to provide additional data on implementation and outcomes if requested.
No formal votes were taken at the hearing. The agency said the Pocatello annualization request and the opioid‑treatment pilot will be considered as part of the FY2026 appropriation process.
