Idaho health officials ask lawmakers for $14 million supplemental, prioritize prevention and foster-family recruitment

Director Adams, head of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, told a Senate committee the department will prioritize child-welfare prevention and foster-family recruitment in its upcoming budget request and is seeking a $14 million supplemental to address rising placement costs.

Adams said Idaho has about 463,000 children and receives roughly 24,000 hotline calls about possible abuse or neglect each year; the department responds to about 15,800 of those, and in 89% of assessed cases the child is deemed safe. “It’s the right thing to do,” Adams said of focusing on child welfare, “We can make a big difference in the lives of these children.”

Why it matters: Adams and Deputy Director Monte Pro said costs have risen because more children are being placed in congregate-care settings and incoming cases have higher clinical acuity. Congregate care is far more expensive than home-based services, and officials argued that investing in prevention and recruitment will both improve outcomes and slow budget growth.

Most important details

- Supplemental and budget ask: Adams said the department has a $14,000,000 supplemental request this year tied to child-welfare spending growth.

- Caseload and placement data presented by Adams: Idaho has about 24,000 hotline calls per year; the department assesses about 15,800. In 11% of assessments (roughly 1,700 cases annually) children are found unsafe. Adams reported about 300 prevention cases and roughly 1,400 placements per year; about 1,200 children achieve permanency annually, most commonly reunification (65%) or adoption (25%).

- Costs:…