Making progress toward Strategic Goal 2: Protect children, youth, and vulnerable adults ‎

As part of the department’s mission to strengthen the health, safety, and independence of Idahoans, we strive to consider what this means for all Idahoans, including those with developmental disabilities (DD).

A specific focus we have is how to best serve people with developmental disabilities who are experiencing a crisis, often due to complex needs that can include mental health or medical needs. When these individuals are in crisis, it is essential that they receive services that are person-centered, trauma-informed, and delivered in the least restrictive environment possible. We believe we can improve the Idaho crisis system that serves Idaho’s adults with DD.

The Developmental Disabilities Crisis System Improvement Project is well under way to establish a long-term system of care by July 1, 2022, for people with developmental disabilities who exhibit severe behaviors. 

We are making important changes to care for those individuals who must be treated outside of the community so their safety and the community’s safety can be maintained. These changes include the creation of a new assessment, observation, and stabilization center and step-down housing on the existing Southwest Idaho Treatment Center (SWITC) campus.

While the project includes new buildings and services on the existing SWITC campus, the new system of care will be much broader in scope. It is also designed to help maintain individuals in their communities. The project includes:

• The development of new teams who specialize in mental health and DD
• Enhanced coordination of care for adults in crisis
• Capacity building of providers who serve people with complex needs

The project team includes DHW staff from the Divisions of Family and Community Services, Behavioral Health, Medicaid, and Licensing and Certification. The team works closely with an advisory board made up of representatives from the provider community, law enforcement, Idaho Legislature, courts, advocates, and families.

This work is described in the department’s strategic plan, in Strategic Objective 2.3. The team has implemented a communications plan with staff and key stakeholders to support the initial implementation. Over the next few months, the team will begin the launch of new treatment model design elements and will present a budget request to the Legislature to fund the new treatment model.

Full implementation of the new model of care is expected in 2024, and more work on this project will be shared in our annual strategic plan updates and other communication channels. We are honored to share our work with you as we move forward in our strategic goals. You can follow our work and read more about our strategic plan on our website.

I hope you all have a safe and healthy weekend.

Idaho has a critical need for foster families so children have a safe and nurturing place to live and go to school while their parents get the help they need to provide a safe place at home. But becoming a foster parent is a big decision, and many people have lots of questions. Here are some of the most common ones.

More information on how to become a foster parent is available on the department’s website or interested people can call 2-1-1 and a foster care representative will contact them.

What does a foster parent do?

When a child cannot live safely at home, temporary foster care is needed. Foster parents are responsible for providing a safe and nurturing living environment while working with the child’s social worker and parents so the family can be safely reunited.

Who can become a foster parent?

Foster parents are as varied as the children needing homes. Successful foster parents are everyday people from all races, religions, incomes, and educational backgrounds. They can be single, married, or divorced, but they must be at least 21 years old.

How long does the licensing process take?

It is our goal to help potential foster parents finish the licensing process in 90-120 days. The length of time it takes to finish the assessment and licensing process depends on how quickly the application, personal and medical references, and background checks are received, and when the potential foster parents are able to complete PRIDE pre-service training.

Once someone has been approved for foster care, the time it takes to receive a child depends on many factors that may include the age, gender, race, or health of the child you are willing to accept and the number and type of children in need of placement.

The department typically works with the child’s family toward reunion for 12 months. If reunion of the child with their birth family is not able to occur in that time, the court may terminate parental rights, which means the child is available for adoption. The department looks for relatives for a more permanent placement in that 12 months, with the goal to identify and select a permanent family after a child has been in foster care for six months. 

Are there fees for the application, home study, or criminal history background check?

There are no fees for the application or home study process for prospective parents who are becoming licensed and approved to provide foster care for children placed by Child and Family Services.

There is a fee for processing background checks through the criminal history unit. However, these fees are waived for prospective foster parents who are becoming licensed and approved to provide foster care for children placed by Child and Family Services. 

Can foster families adopt?

Yes, they can. However, adoption is rarely the goal at the time a child is placed with a foster family. Children continue to be involved with their parents and extended family while they are in foster homes, and most children are eventually returned to their birth parents. Others are placed with relatives. The department prioritizes preserving connections and placing children with extended family.

Families who have experienced fostering are a great resource for children who are not able to return home safely or be placed with a relative. In more than half of foster cases that end in adoption, relatives or non-relative foster parents adopt the child.

Cameron Gilliland is the administrator for the Division of Family and Community Services in the Department of Health and Welfare.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is dedicated to strengthening the health, safety, and independence of Idahoans. Learn more at healthandwelfare.idaho.gov.

Every year, we create and distribute our Facts, Figures, & Trends, where you can find robust and detailed information about the work of the department’s eight divisions. The book highlights how our employees live our mission daily: to strengthen the health, safety, and independence of Idahoans.

Facts, Figures, & Trends covers state fiscal year (SFY) 2022, which is from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022.

Because of the pandemic, those we serve have become more familiar with the Division of Public Health and how public officials work to support and inform the community and our community partners. However, the department also has seven other divisions that are focused on serving Idahoans or supporting those who serve Idahoans.

In additional to Public Health, the department’s divisions are Medicaid, Family and Community Services, Behavioral Health, Welfare (Self Reliance), Licensing and Certification, Management Services, and Information and Technology Services. Our employees have expertise in accounting, data analytics, healthcare administration, research, epidemiology, toxicology, social work, mental health, nursing, network administration, customer service, communications, program management, and much more. The skills and knowledge of our staff is vast and varied, but all of our employees have one thing in common, their desire to serve the people of Idaho.

I have been working at the department for almost three years, and I am still amazed at the commitment of our employees to the people of Idaho. They are sincere in their devotion to those they serve.

If you are interested in learning more about the work our employees and department, I would encourage you to take some time to read Facts, Figures, & Trends.

An unfortunate milestone in the pandemic

A few days ago, we hit a very distressing milestone in the pandemic – more than 4,000 Idahoans have now died from COVID-19, including more than 1,000 in long-term care facilities.

Our battle against this disease is not over. If you haven’t received a vaccine, I encourage you to consider doing so. If you are eligible for a COVID-19 booster, I encourage you to consider getting a booster dose. Even with the new variant, the vaccine and booster dose are the best, most consistent way to protect yourself and your loved ones from serious illness and death.

Use vaccines.gov to find a location near you, then call or visit their website to make an appointment. 

I hope you all have a safe and healthy weekend.

Obesity is a common and serious disease that puts people at risk for many other serious diseases and increases the risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

• 
  A study of COVID-19 cases shows that hospitalizations, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, need for ventilators, and deaths are higher with a higher body mass index (BMI).
• A higher risk for having to be admitted to the hospital or death was really apparent in those younger than age 65. 
• More than 900,000 adult COVID-19 hospitalizations happened in the United States between the beginning of the pandemic and Nov. 18, 2020. Models estimate that 271,800 (30.2 percent) of these hospitalizations were attributed to obesity.

Why focus on obesity when there are other serious chronic health issues that also can make it more likely someone will get seriously ill with COVID-19?

Adults with enough extra weight to be considered obese are more likely to also have additional health issues that make it more likely they will wind up in the hospital or worse if they get sick with COVID-19.

Extra weight puts extra strain on our bodies, and it’s important for people to know that so they can make well-informed decisions about how to continue to protect themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), having obesity may triple the risk of hospitalization due to a COVID-19 infection.

What are some of the reasons having obesity could cause someone to get sicker from COVID-19?

• Obesity is linked to a lower immune response to bacteria and viruses.
• Obesity lowers lung capacity and can make it more difficult to put someone who needs it on a ventilator.
• Obesity is related to other health conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, that often have worse outcomes from COVID-19.

What about children? Does this apply to them, too?

Yes, sadly. Children who have obesity may suffer worse outcomes from COVID-19. In a study of COVID-19 cases in patients ages 18 years and younger, having obesity was associated with a 3.07 times higher risk of being admitted to a hospital and a 1.42 times higher risk of severe illness (intensive care unit admission, ventilator use, or death) when hospitalized.

Losing weight is incredibly difficult. What can be done about this now?

Change and long-term weight loss take time, but there are things people can do now. They can help protect themselves and their families during this pandemic by:

• Getting vaccinated and following other protective pandemic measures
• Eating a healthy diet
• Being consistently active
• Getting enough sleep
• Coping with stress in healthy ways, and avoiding tobacco and drinking too much alcohol.

Dr. Christine Hahn is Idaho’s state epidemiologist and the Division of Public Health’s medical director. She is board certified in infectious disease and works in the Family Medicine Residency of Idaho’s tuberculosis clinic twice monthly. She also serves on CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and since late February 2020, has been focusing almost solely on responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Learn more:

• About obesity and COVID-19: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/obesity-and-covid-19.html
• About how to maintain a healthy weight: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/index.html

Stay up to date with the latest and most accurate information on COVID-19:

• Idaho’s Coronavirus website: see a timeline, the most current data on cases, vaccine, and more.
• Idaho Rebounds website
• One.Idaho.gov
• CDC COVID-19 website

Follow the Department of Health and Welfare on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for daily updates and information you can trust.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is dedicated to strengthening the health, safety, and independence of Idahoans. Learn more at healthandwelfare.idaho.gov.