Health and Welfare nominee Alex Adams tells Senate panel he will prioritize child welfare, pare back agency duties

Alex Adams, the governor's nominee to lead the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee that his top priority as director is improving outcomes for children in the state's foster-care system and that he has begun a series of organizational and regulatory cuts to allow that focus.

Adams, who said he has served in the role since last June and introduced himself to the committee as "the Director of the Department of Health and Welfare," told senators he has concentrated agency leadership around two themes: "quality over quantity" and "laser focused on child welfare." He said the department employs about 3,000 people, operates 74 buildings in 37 locations, and administers programs ranging from hospitals and Medicaid to vital records and regulation of public swimming pools.

Adams said his leadership has already removed what he described as excessive internal requirements and regulations. "We took 2,300 pages of internal regulations and put them in the dustbin of history," he told the committee. He also said the department will propose statutory consolidation that he expects will eliminate roughly 150 statutory sections and that the agency plans to cut about 200 pages of regulations this year.

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