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We need your help to double the rate of foster families in Idaho
If you’re willing to open your heart and your home to a child in need, we need your help.
This month, I’m thrilled to join the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) team. It is an honor to work alongside department staff and the dedicated, compassionate Idahoans who make a difference for Idaho kids every day.For over two decades, I’ve dedicated my career to supporting youth and families, most recently serving as director of the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections.
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May 11 is the end of the federal Public Health Emergency declared to help combat COVID-19. This provides a great opportunity to reflect on the enormity and impacts of the pandemic as well as celebrate the rapid roll-out of public health protections, vaccines, therapeutics,
May is National Foster Care Month and an opportunity to build further awareness about issues affecting foster care in Idaho. There are around 1,500 foster children at any given time in Idaho, and we’re always in need of more families willing to help, whether as kinship
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare continues to re-evaluate eligibility for people enrolled in Medicaid who have been protected from being disenrolled from the program during the pandemic.
As of April 24, we have processed 43,419 re-evaluations out of
Students across the Northwest were encouraged to get creative and help raise awareness about the dangers of radon gas by participating in the 2023 Northwest Radon Poster Contest.
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that can build up in our homes. Both
The Department of Health and Welfare is committed to optimizing health and preventing crises. We believe that all Idahoans should be as healthy and self-sufficient as possible. We believe it so much that it’s the third goal in our Strategic Plan.
There are several ways to
The top three leading causes of death in Idaho in 2021 were diseases of the heart, cancer, and COVID-19. Almost 9,000 Idahoans died of those causes out of 18,334 total deaths. The next three categories--accidents, respiratory diseases, and Alzheimer's disease--resulted in fewer
One child abused is one child too many.
All children deserve to feel safe in their homes, with their families.
Too often, that is not the case. The Department of Health and Welfare receives nearly 23,000 reports of child abuse, neglect, and abandonment each year in Idaho.
With about 80 million dogs living in U.S. households, there are unfortunately about 4.5 million dog bites each year, with many dog bite victims being children.
In Idaho, dog bites are increasing, and visits to Idaho emergency departments by children for dog bite injuries are
Can you imagine a place that offers services to stabilize people in a behavioral health crisis as well as treatment for those with serious and complex mental illnesses and substance use disorders? A place that serves everyone -- regardless of age, where they live, or their
A total of 153,837 Idaho residents are in Medicaid Protection, which means they couldn’t be removed from Medicaid during the pandemic unless they died, moved out of state, or asked to be removed based on federal law. Since Congress removed that protection, DHW has been working
In his 2022 budget, Idaho Gov. Brad Little included $15 million to establish facilities called psychiatric residential treatment facilities (PRTFs). They provide children with inpatient psychiatric services that are not offered at Idaho’s existing facilities.
In December, the