Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Reentry Treatment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
DOC seeks annualized staffing for Pocatello reentry center and pilot for opioid‑use medication in jails
Summary
Legislative analysts said the Department of Correction requests funding to annualize staff at the Pocatello Community Reentry Center, and the agency described a small pilot to provide medications for opioid use disorder to incarcerated people and coordinate follow-up in the community.
The Idaho Department of Correction’s Community Corrections Division told the Joint Finance Preparations Committee on Feb. 4 it needs funding to annualize staff costs at the Pocatello Community Reentry Center and requested resources for a pilot to provide medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) while people are incarcerated.
Noah Peterson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, said the department earlier received six months of personnel funding for 17 operations positions at the Pocatello Community Reentry Center and is now seeking $680,700 to annualize the personnel costs so those posts are funded for a full year. If approved, Peterson said, the total ongoing budget for the center would be about $2.4 million.
Peterson also described a small pilot program that the agency added to the request: two full‑time positions to coordinate case management and community treatment for people receiving MOUD while incarcerated. The pilot would create staff responsible for arranging continuity of care after release, and the committee was told the positions would be part of a broader push to expand treatment and transitional housing supports aimed at reducing recidivism.
Committee members had no substantive questions during the summary of these items. Director Josh Tewalt emphasized the broader goal of increasing community‑based treatment capacity and said DOC’s gap analysis shows progress: he told the committee that more than 2,000 people were receiving mental health services and well over 3,000 were enrolled in substance use disorder treatment since Medicaid expansion increased community treatment access. He described a remaining “six percent” gap between need and available services and said DOC is concentrating resources on higher‑risk, higher‑need individuals.
The governor recommended the annualization and replacement items recommended by OITS; the committee did not take immediate action on the requests and asked agency staff to provide customary follow-up materials as the budget process continues.
