Foster care ombudsman faces uncertain future

BOISE — The fate of the recently established foster care ombudsman office is murky amid somewhat conflicting budget decisions, unclear committee rules and a proposed policy bill that was rejected over confusion.

The independent office was established during the 2024 session to address persistent frustrations about oversight and the complaint process for people involved in Idaho’s foster care system, the Idaho Press reported.

Bill proposed to eliminate office

Rep. Joe Alfieri, R-Coeur d’Alene introduced a bill to eliminate the Office of Health and Social Services Ombudsman in the House State Affairs Committee, but committee members opted not to move forward with it.

He told committee members he had been told the ombudsman position was “unfunded and unfilled” and the bill was meant to “catch up with reality.” The office was created with funding from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare budget in 2024. Gov. Brad Little appointed Trevor Sparrow as the ombudsman in November 2024.

Alfieri was asked what the ombudsman office was for.

He said, “I believe the ombudsman was to look into certain areas of the Health and Welfare Committee, and to look for anything that was out of line and to correct those errors.”

The office is meant to investigate and respond to claims related to services provided to children under the care of the state, according to the bill’s statement of purpose.

Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, noted during the meeting that she received a text from Idaho Department Health and Welfare Director Alex Adams, who told her that position was funded this year.

Boyle said she sat through several hearings in which foster families were frustrated by their lack of ability to make complaints if they felt the social workers were not acting in the foster children’s best interest.

“I was appalled at what I was hearing that the social workers are doing,” Boyle said. “I thought this was a good move for foster parents, so I’m not sure why we are getting rid of this.”

Alfieri, who does not sit on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee (JFAC), said he was told it was the budget writers’ intention to not fund the position.

Committee Chairperson Rep. Brent Crane, R-Nampa, said that if the bill were introduced, he intended not to hold a hearing until some questions were answered.

“I’ve got grave reservations about this as well,” Crane said.

Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen, R-Idaho Falls, made a motion to return the bill to the sponsor, rather than introduce it.

“It sounds like, to me, they’re wanting us to remove the position so then they can defund it,” Mickelsen said. “And I’m not sure I’m happy with that.”

Her motion passed, which meant the bill could not come back for a full hearing. It’s possible that Alfieri could try and present a new bill.

Alfieri later declined to tell the Idaho Press who told him the position hadn’t been funded, but said he intended to gather more information on the issue.

Budget decisions

The ombudsman, Sparrow, asked the budget-writing JFAC this year for an additional $50,000 to recruit for the the office’s two open positions, the Idaho Press reported.

The agency’s fiscal year 2025 appropriation was $470,000 to set up the office, according to the legislative budget book.

Through a new process that was implemented two years ago, JFAC passes agency budgets in two steps. First, “maintenance budgets” are passed with no new operating costs, and different agencies are grouped together into large categories of budgets.

The foster care ombudsman’s maintenance budget was included in the fiscal year 2026 maintenance appropriation for economic development — which included base-line spending for several other agencies and commissions, such as the Department of Commerce and the Public Utilities Commission.

This maintenance budget, Senate Bill 1109, passed both chambers and awaits a signature from the governor.

The new spending request by the office later died due to a vote-counting process used this year that the different chambers of the joint committee disagree on.

On Feb. 14, JFAC held its budget hearing for the “enhancement budget” for the ombudsman office to add the $50,000 request.

Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, made the motion to add the funds, which was seconded by Rep. Clay Handy, R-Burley. Wintrow briefly spoke to the motion, citing concerns she’s heard over the past 10 years about the foster care system.

“I think it’s a long time coming, and I think it’ll be a really good addition to those families and children in this area,” Wintrow said.

Rep. Elaine Price, R-Coeur d’Alene, said she opposed the motion over concerns that a new program would be growing already.

The total vote count from House and Senate members was 13-4 with three representatives absent.

Under a new process, the committee has only passed bills if the majority of the total members in each chamber vote for it. The House side of the committee voted 5-2 in the meeting, with three members absent.

JFAC Co-Chairperson Rep. Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, announced that because it failed to reach a majority of the 10 committee representatives, the motion failed.

The House and Senate co-chairpersons have publicly disagreed this year on whether a budget dies if it fails to reach the majority of one chamber or if it would still go to the Senate and be up to its Republican leadership to handle the failed motion, the Idaho Capital Sun reported.

The two Senate Democrats serving on the committee walked out in protest of some of these changes, according to the Idaho Capital Sun.

The committee has not brought new motions or discussed the budget again, Horman told the Idaho Press.

Future of the office

Horman and co-Chairperson Sen. Scott Grow, R-Eagle, told the Idaho Press that budget writers are considering a change that would eliminate the office and move the ombudsman position into another agency, such as the Office of Administrative Hearings or into the Department of Health and Welfare.

“So the function would continue but without the need for the additional support staff,” Horman said.

Grow said that putting the position in an existing entity rather than leaving the separate office would “help eliminate that possibility of this becoming a big, growing entity.”

Both Horman and Grow voted in support of the enhancement budget for the ombudsman office.

Horman said that although the maintenance budget passed, it would be possible to rescind that funding if a policy bill eliminating the office moved forward.

One of the bill sponsors of the legislation to create the office, Rep. Britt Raybould, R-Rexburg, told the Idaho Press on Friday the point of the ombudsman was for it to operate independently of the Department of Health and Welfare. She said the confidence in the current director shouldn’t necessarily direct the policy.

“A great director today does not guarantee a great director tomorrow,” Raybould said.

Wintrow, who was involved in the creation of the ombudsman, expressed a similar sentiment.

“It has to be a neutral site,” Wintrow told the Idaho Press in an interview. “It can’t go under the same director. … We need to be setting up systems so it won’t matter who’s sitting in the seat.”

Both lawmakers indicated they could support moving the position as long as it remained independent and had sufficient administrative support.

Wintrow said she’s been asking about bringing up the enhancement budget again, but hasn’t gotten an answer.

“But I’m going to prod more now that I saw this (draft bill),” Wintrow said.

The Legislature’s original target for ending the session was March 21, but most lawmakers in the building aren’t confident that will be achieved. Legislators are required to pass a budget before they may adjourn for the year, and there are more than 20 outstanding enhancement budgets, according to a list made by legislative budget chief Keith Bybee.

Horman announced Friday that because of a lack of time for budget work groups, there were likely no budgets prepared for the committee to vote on Monday, so the committee adjourned Friday subject to the call of the chairperson.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.