Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Child Welfare Oversight topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
New Idaho ombudsman explains role overseeing foster-care services and asks for higher personnel funding
Summary
The newly created Office of Health and Social Services Ombudsman, established last legislative session, presented its budget and priorities; Ombudsman Trevor Sparrow described complaint intake and investigative authority over foster-care and related residential placements and said the office seeks higher pay lines to recruit staff.
The Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 15 heard a presentation for the new Office of Health and Social Services Ombudsman, which was created by last session’s legislation and is charged with monitoring public and private agencies that provide health and social services for children in state care.
Legislative analyst Alex Williamson told the committee the office was appropriated three full‑time positions and about $470,000 in FY 2025 — of which roughly $450,000 is ongoing general‑fund appropriation and $20,000 was one‑time capital outlay to establish the office. Williamson said the governor supports an ongoing request to raise personnel funding so the office can recruit and retain staff at higher pay levels, following a Department of Human Resources recommendation to target hires at “above 80% of policy” to attract qualified candidates.
Trevor Sparrow, the ombudsman appointed by the governor on Nov. 27, told the committee the office will receive complaints from parents, foster parents and other parties, investigate those concerns, and can perform broader investigations of agency practices and make legislative or administrative recommendations. Sparrow said the office’s primary focus will be the foster‑care system but that the statute permits complaints involving children housed in other residential settings, including juvenile corrections.
Senator Wintrow asked whether the citizen review panels that study aggregate case problems could be useful to the ombudsman’s work. Sparrow said he has already discussed coordination with the Department of Health and Welfare and sees volunteer panels as a potential resource for research and helping develop legislative recommendations, citing the link between incarcerated women and children entering foster care as an example of an upstream issue the panels could help examine.
Sparrow also said the office has adopted the standards of the United States Ombudsman Association and intends to build a multidisciplinary team (including possible legal, nursing and social‑work expertise), which was a rationale for the personnel funding increase.
No formal committee action or vote occurred at the hearing. Sparrow said he is actively recruiting staff and expects to use the legislative appropriation to establish operations.
