By Ruth Brown, Idaho Reports
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare needs an additional $14,125,900 to cover foster care expenses for this fiscal year.
IDHW Director Alex Adams made the pitch for the supplemental funding before the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, at the committee’s meeting pre-Legislative session.
Adams explained that the largest reason for the increase in cost is the use of congregate care settings for children in foster care paired with the decrease in the number foster families.
Roughly 1,400 children are placed in foster care annually in Idaho. Of those, 46% are in foster homes, 27% are in kinship placements with family or people known to the children, and 16% are in congregate care. The remaining 11% end up in other locations, such as hospitals, based on the child’s needs.
Last year, the department placed more than 170 foster children in temporary housing accommodations because the state had nowhere else for them. In May, the state opened the Payette Assessment and Care Center, a 16-bed foster care facility that acts as an alternative to the temporary homes DHW previously used.
Adams told the committee that the department has closed all temporary housing accommodations as of last week, and has significantly increased the number of available foster families, calling it a “wildly important goal” for fiscal year 2026.
He outlined that it costs the state $16 a day to put a child in foster home or kinship home, and $225 to $800 a day to put them in a congregate care setting. Generally, kids in congregate care settings have the most comorbidities and other needs that require more intensive medical and mental health treatment.
IDHW’s fiscal year 2026 budget request focuses heavily on improving foster care, including money for foster family recruitment, foster licensing efforts, a 5% pay increase for foster families, and 36 new positions for prevention specialists. Prevention specialists would provide families with resources, such as anger management or substance use disorder treatment, to help them before removing a child from the home becomes necessary. The department is also requesting additional positions for the Payette Assessment Care Center, as well as for case management and licensing.
Lawmakers will further consider and discuss budgets during the 2025 Legislative Session, which begins in January.
Ruth Brown | Producer
Ruth Brown grew up in South Dakota and her first job out of college was covering the South Dakota Legislature. She’s since moved on to Idaho lawmakers. Brown spent 10 years working in print journalism, including newspapers such as the Idaho Statesman and Idaho Press, where she’s covered everything from the correctional system to health care issues. She joined Idaho Reports in 2021 and looks forward to telling stories about how state policy can impact the lives of regular Idahoans.