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New ombudsman office for foster‑care oversight outlines staffing and funding needs to JFAC
Summary
Trevor Sparrow, newly appointed ombudsman, described the Office of Health and Social Services Ombudsman’s role in handling complaints and monitoring state foster‑care services and requested higher personnel funding to recruit qualified staff.
Trevor Sparrow, the governor‑appointed ombudsman for the Office of Health and Social Services Ombudsman, introduced the new office to the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Jan. 15 and described its mandate to monitor public and private agencies that provide health and social services to children in state care.
Sparrow said the office — created by Senate Bill 1380 (as cited in the hearing) and housed within the Department of Self‑Governing Agencies — currently has three appropriated FTEs. He noted the governor appointed him on Nov. 27 and that he is recruiting to fill the remaining positions. “We… receive complaints, concerns from citizens, from parents that have had their children taken away, foster parents that are currently in the system… and then we investigate those things,” Sparrow told the committee.
Legislative analyst Alex Williamson said the office received an ongoing appropriation of $470,000 for FY2025 (all general fund), with about $395,000 allocated for personnel costs. Williamson said the Department of Human Resources recommended increasing personnel dollars so the office could recruit and retain staff at above 80% of policy salaries; accordingly, the office submitted an ongoing request to raise personnel funding.
Committee members asked Sparrow about the office’s scope. He said the office will primarily focus on foster care but may investigate complaints in any residential setting where children are housed, including juvenile corrections. Sparrow also described early conversations with agency staff and citizen review panels; he suggested citizen review panels could be a resource for volunteer research and for informing policy recommendations.
Sparrow said the office has adopted the United States Ombudsman Association standards and expects to assemble a multidisciplinary team that could include legal, nursing and social‑work expertise — one reason he cited for the recommended staffing and salary levels. No vote was taken at the hearing; the committee heard the staffing and budget rationale and signaled it would consider the request during budget deliberations.
