Idaho juvenile corrections requests new funding as officials report rising mental‑health needs and longer residential stays

The Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections told the Joint Finance‑Appropriations Committee on Feb. 18 that it is seeing increased mental‑health needs and higher costs for residential substance‑use treatment, and asked the committee to consider several budget enhancements to respond.

Noah Peterson, budget policy analyst for the legislative budget office, summarized the department’s budget and enhancement requests and identified several specific items the agency is seeking. Peterson said the department requests a $380,000 one‑time radio upgrade from the Juvenile Corrections Endowment Income Fund to provide “man down” functionality and programming across the three state juvenile correction centers in Lewiston, Nampa and St. Anthony. He also described a $300,000 ongoing general fund request to cover increased costs for an existing residential substance‑use disorder (SUD) treatment program.

The SUD request responds to a rise in daily residential treatment costs and longer lengths of stay, Peterson said. He told the committee the treatment per‑day cost rose from about $198 in 2021 to $399 in August 2021, and the…