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New Health and Social Services Ombudsman outlines role, asks for higher personnel pay to recruit staff
Summary
The newly created Office of Health and Social Services Ombudsman described its mandate to receive and investigate complaints about child welfare placements, reported it has three FTPs and $470,000 ongoing in FY2025, and asked for additional personnel funding to recruit qualified staff.
The Office of Health and Social Services Ombudsman — created by the 2024 legislative session — described its mission and early staffing plans to the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee on Jan. 15, and its newly appointed ombudsman asked for increased personnel funding to help recruit and retain qualified staff.
Alex Williamson, budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, told the committee the office was established by “Senate Bill 13 80” and was appropriated three full-time positions and $470,000 (all general fund) for FY2025, including $20,000 one-time capital outlay. Williamson said the governor recommends additional ongoing personnel funding so the department of human resources can hire at “above 80% of policy” to attract applicants for the new office.
Trevor Sparrow, the governor’s appointee as ombudsman, introduced himself and described the office’s responsibilities: receiving complaints from parents, foster parents and other stakeholders about children in state care, investigating those complaints, producing investigative reports and making recommendations to improve agency practices. Sparrow said the office may also review agencies proactively without a citizen complaint and noted it can investigate complaints about residential placements including juvenile corrections, consistent with its statutory charge.
Sparrow described his background as director of the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy and emphasized the office will follow standards from the United States Ombudsman Association. He told the committee his office is seeking multidisciplinary expertise in hires — legal, nursing and social work — and said that staffing rationale underlies the personnel request.
Senator Maryanne Wintrow and other committee members asked how the new ombudsman’s office might coordinate with existing citizen review panels and whether volunteers could assist with research or case review. Sparrow said he had spoken with Division of Juvenile Corrections leadership and sees “great conversations” with citizen review panels and the potential to use volunteers for research and policy work, citing the link between high rates of incarcerated women in Idaho and children entering foster care.
Williamson summarized that the office’s ongoing appropriation of $470,000 includes roughly $395,000 for personnel; Sparrow confirmed he is now hiring to fill the remaining positions after his appointment on Nov. 27. The committee heard that the office’s activities will focus primarily on the foster-care population but include broader residential settings for children when statutory authority allows.
No formal committee action was taken during the hearing. The personnel funding request will be considered as part of the committee’s budget-setting process.
Why this matters: The ombudsman’s office is a newly created state oversight body aimed at independent investigation and policy recommendations for foster care and residential services for children. Early staffing levels, pay scale and coordination with volunteer review panels will shape its ability to investigate complaints and produce systemic recommendations.
