Members of IDHW’s Division of Licensing and Certification along with teammates from the Bureau of Developmental Disability Services joined in Chair Hoops on March 22-24, a fundraiser for the City of Boise Parks and Recreation Department’s Adaptive Recreation Program. Continue reading “DHW Licensing & Certification Chair Hoops team helps raise money for individuals with disabilities”
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has appointed Rexburg resident Timothy Rarick, Ph.D., to a four-year term on the Idaho Board of Health and Welfare. Rarick is a professor in the Department of Home and Family at Brigham Young University-Idaho and co-founder of the family life education blog FamilyGoodThings.com.
Writing, blogging, teaching, advocating and speaking extensively as “Dr. Tim” on parenting principles, child development, the family as the fundamental unit of society, fatherhood, and other topics, Rarick brings a research-based perspective on children, parents, and families to the board. He also serves on the advisory board for United Families International, the board of Educate Empower Kids, and has spoken several times during the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations. Continue reading “News from DHW: BYU-Idaho professor Timothy Rarick of Rexburg named to Board of Health and Welfare”
The level of expertise and knowledge among Health and Welfare staff is extremely high, and a blog post for the National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) takes notice of that expertise in one DHW program manager.
The post highlights Aimee Shipman and her work on HIV for NASTAD, and how that influences her work in Idaho as the program manager for the department’s HIV, STD and Hepatitis programs. She also serves on NASTAD’s executive committee and is currently its secretary. Continue reading “Recently back from Uganda, DHW employee Aimee Shipman discusses her work on HIV”
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s Food Protection Program is hosting a series of public meetings throughout Idaho in April and May to discuss two important issues: cottage foods and proposed Idaho Food Code updates.
Cottage foods are foods that are typically produced in a person’s home and sold or given away directly to other people. The production of these foods is currently unregulated. The public meetings will help clarify the types of foods that are allowed to be unregulated. Community members also will have the opportunity to discuss whether the state Food Protection Program should promulgate rules specific to cottage food production. Continue reading “Idaho Public Health schedules meetings statewide for cottage food and food code updates”
This is a compilation of questions compiled and written by staffs of the Idaho Attorney General’s Office, Department of Health and Welfare and the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement.
Does the legislation threaten the due process rights of Idaho’s citizens?
No. In fact, the amendments expressly say that an Idaho court may refuse to recognize and enforce an order if the issuing tribunal (a court of law in another country) did not observe minimum standards of due process. This legislation actually increases due process protections compared to the current child support law in Idaho.
Continue reading “A roundup of questions we’re being asked about the child support legislation”
Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter spoke to the media Thursday morning assessing the 2015 legislative session, and addressed the child support bill that was tabled, SB 1067. Otter said he is working with lawmakers to find a solution.
“I think it’s important that we understand the consequences of doing nothing,” he said.
Continue reading “Gov. Otter: ‘We are engaged, and we are going to do something.’”
Our agency has received official notification this evening from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement that Idaho has 60 days to bring its child support program into federal compliance.
The Idaho Legislature adjourned Saturday, failing to pass legislation to meet minimum federal requirements for working on child support cases with foreign countries. Failure of that bill prompted the federal government to issue a formal notice in its intent to disapprove Idaho’s state plan Tuesday evening.
Idaho now has 60 days to correct the problem. If not, access to child support enforcement tools and funding will discontinue on July 1st.
The Department of Health and Welfare’s executive leadership team conferenced first thing this morning with Vicki Turetsky, commissioner for the federal Office of Child Support and Enforcement (OCSE). The topic— what will happen to the Idaho Child Support program after the Idaho Legislature’s failure to approve a bill allowing the state to meet minimum federal program requirements.
Commissioner Turetsky was very clear in her response—she will send out a letter by the end of the week giving Idaho 60 days to correct the action and meet federal compliance. If Idaho does not fix it, the state will receive a second notification letter that all federal child support funding ceases and access to all enforcement tools will be turned off. This would affect every one of the 155,000 child support cases the Idaho Child Support Program handles, which will impact more than 400,000 Idaho children and parents. Continue reading “Fed says DHW Child Support Program has 60 days to come into compliance”
March is Social Work Recognition Month, according to House Concurrent Resolution No. 9, which is winding its way through the legislative process. It’s a good time to recognize and give a quick “thank you” to the more than 300 social workers at the Department of Health and Welfare.
DHW social workers do a variety of work in several of the department’s divisions, including Family and Community Services, Behavioral Health, Licensing and Certification, Medicaid and Welfare. They come into contact with extremely vulnerable Idahoans who are seeking help, often in difficult circumstances. Continue reading “If you work with a social worker, tell them thank you today.”
As the state of Idaho celebrates the 25th anniversary of the public records law, it’s worth noting that the Department of Health and Welfare received 1,137 public records requests in calendar year 2014. That’s an increase of nearly a third from the 880 we received in 2013.
The vast majority of those requests were from the public, not the media, which submitted just 20 requests for public records in 2014. Continue reading “Public records requests keep DHW busy”
DHW Voice 