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Senate advances bill to increase 14-day reviews of unlicensed congregate foster placements
Summary
Sen. Cherie Wintrow presented Senate Bill 1035 to require the director of Health and Welfare to review unlicensed group-care placements every 14 days and assess safety, treatment needs and discharge plans; committee voted to send the bill to the floor with a due-pass recommendation.
Senator Cherie Wintrow presented Senate Bill 1035 to the Senate Health and Welfare Committee as a follow-up to reforms enacted in 2024 aimed at restricting foster placements in unregulated congregate-care settings such as short-term rentals and hotels.
Wintrow said the 2024 reforms reduced the number of children placed in short-term rentals; she said the current bill builds on those reforms by clarifying the director of the Department of Health and Welfare's authority to review and approve congregate-care placements. "For a child placed in an unlicensed group care setting, including Airbnb, the director shall review the placement every 14 days," she said. She said the director's review must assess safety, treatment needs, facility services, the child's treatment plan, progress toward discharge and the discharge plan, and that if a placement is inappropriate the director must find a new placement.
Wintrow described meetings with providers and the department to draft the language. Craig Anderson, owner and operator of Hinge Point Youth Homes, testified he helped draft the revised language and said the updated language was "unanimously agreed to by the providers that were involved by the department, as well as other organizations." Bridal Shipley of Hailey testified in support, urging the committee to adopt measures that keep children in the least-restrictive appropriate setting and prioritize community-based supports.
Committee members asked whether the 14-day review requirement would create staffing strain at the Department of Health and Welfare. Wintrow and witnesses said the department had absorbed new work after last year's reforms without adding staff at the time and that the provision aims to balance oversight with avoiding pulling clinicians away from treatment duties. Wintrow said the bill has support from licensed children's facilities, the Department of Health and Welfare and child advocates, including Idaho Voices for Children.
Senator Blaylock moved, "I move we send Senate Bill 10 35 to the floor with the due pass recommendation." The motion, seconded by Senator Burkey, passed on a voice vote.
Ending: The committee recommended SB 1035 be reported to the full Senate with a due-pass recommendation; subsequent legislative steps will take place on the Senate floor.
