Department of Health and Welfare outlines reorganization, staffing and budget needs; JFAC quizzes vehicle, IT and licensing requests

The Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee opened the session's health and welfare hearings Monday with an overview from Legislative Services and an agency presentation by Alex Williamson and Director Alex Adams.

Reorganization and rationale: Williamson, the budget and policy analyst for Legislative Services, outlined a proposed reorganization the department submitted as part of its program-maintenance request. The reorganization would split Family and Community Services (FACS) from the remaining Medicaid and behavioral health divisions, promote the Medicaid administrator to a deputy director while retaining Medicaid responsibilities, and rename and regroup several divisions. Under the plan, Support Services and Licensing would be renamed the Division of Operations; Public Health and Self Reliance would be grouped as Health and Human Services; and a new internal division would be called Child, Youth, and Family Services. The department also proposes moving Extended Employment Services (EES) and Community Developmental Disabilities programs under Medicaid, and giving the Idaho Child Care Program (ICCP) its own appropriation unit under Early Learning and Development to allow separate budget tracking.

Director Adams told the committee the reorganization is intended to improve lines of visibility and accountability for a large agency that manages Medicaid, public health regulation,…