Watchdog: Idaho regulators still fail to penalize youth facilities where kids are at risk

As Idaho increases its oversight of youth treatment homes, a new ombudsman said the state still isn’t penalizing facilities where kids could be at risk.

And lawmakers say they aren't satisfied with the way the state Department of Health and Welfare is investigating child abuse in those facilities. 

Those updates came during a presentation Thursday, Sept. 25, nearly two years after InvestigateWest uncovered years of child abuse and neglect at Idaho youth homes that was met with little to no punishment from state regulators. The investigation found that state regulators had never revoked a youth treatment home’s license despite serious issues, including one facility where a girl was raped by a staff member. A June audit from the independent Office of Performance Evaluations echoed concerns over the state’s role in overseeing the facilities, urging Idaho to overhaul its system to keep kids safe.

The ombudsman, Trevor Sparrow, was appointed by Gov. Brad Little in November after lawmakers established the independent watchdog position to ensure these facilities comply with state regulations. But Sparrow said Sept. 25 that many facilities are still failing to properly report all of the incidents mandated under state licensing rules, which require the state’s 31 group homes to report critical incidents to health officials, including when a child in their care attempts suicide, overdoses, is hospitalized, is arrested or runs away. Instead, he said most are still marked by the health department as “reviewed with no further action taken.” 

Sparrow’s team reviewed an incident report of sexual assault submitted by a children’s home in southeast Idaho, which he did not name. The allegation was reported to police, and the staff member was let go. The facility reported the incident to state regulators, who reviewed it and marked it as closed. 

Sparrow had a different recommendation. His team found that the facility was allowing staff members to drive children of the opposite sex alone, without notifying anyone of where they were going. The facility could hold staff members accountable by updating its policies, Sparrow said.

“I know that if all of these were reported and facilities were held accountable, I believe there are some that should be shut down,” Sparrow said. “But then you're at a catch-22 because then you're also taking away treatment options for the kids in the state.”

Department of Health and Welfare officials have promised a culture shift, and they point to a number of changes in how youth treatment homes are monitored. Department monitors now conduct yearly unannounced inspections, in addition to annual scheduled inspections of children’s homes. New guidelines also ensure that a range of children and staff are interviewed by monitors during those on-site visits. And the department has developed a bill of rights that defines what rights and protections children in these facilities and their families should expect so they can identify problems when they arise. 

“There is an accountability — and needs to be an accountability piece — when a facility is not complying with rules,” said Laura Stute, who oversees licensing and certification at the Department of Health and Welfare. When a facility fails to properly report incidents or violates other licensing rules, the department has the power to fine a facility or halt admissions until it complies, or even revoke its license. “It's just a question of, how do we hold providers accountable that are going to take more difficult patients? What are we going to request of them?”

Department officials didn’t specify the number of facilities that have been sanctioned for violating licensing rules or what sanctions were imposed.

Evaluators, lawmakers and the state’s new ombudsman say oversight has improved, but without meaningful penalties for violators, vulnerable children remain at risk. 

At the southeast Idaho facility flagged by auditors, Sparrow’s team analyzed police calls from the facility and found several instances where it failed to submit the required reports, he told lawmakers. In 2025, the facility had notified the health department of five incidents, but had 26 calls to police in the same time frame. And in 2024, the provider self-reported four incidents to the state, but had 76 calls to police. 

“The calls for service included psychiatric problems, warrant services, sexual assault, and most of the provider reports were involving sexual assault and runaways,” Sparrow said. “There was a strangulation, hanging incident that they responded to from the police department, assaults from the kids, kids to kids and kids on staff. Those things aren't being reported as much as they should.” 

Not every 911 call has to be reported to state monitors, but the calls Sparrow described do. 

Ryan Langrill, who led the audit of the state’s oversight of these facilities, said department officials offered some reasons for encouragement. 

“I do think there's a better chance now that, if someone is unsafe, it will be caught quicker and something will happen,” Langrill said. “But whether that is sufficient to ensure the safety of both that kid and other kids in the system. … I don't think it's sufficient at this point.”

Sen. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, is co-chair of the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee that ordered the audit last year. Wintrow said she was glad to see progress but many questions remain about how to ensure the safety of children in these care facilities. 

Auditors found that there was no process for investigating child abuse in youth homes and that case workers are not required to respond to safety issues for children in those treatment facilities as quickly as for children in foster homes. “Child abuse was not being investigated in the same way in a facility as in a home,” Wintrow said, referencing what she called the audit’s “biggest” recommendation. 

During the presentation, Wintrow asked health officials whether they have reconciled that. They said yes, but Wintrow told InvestigateWest, “I’m still not certain, and I think it would be appropriate to, again, ensure that the ombudsman has the resources to make sure that they have oversight of these cases.”

Another recommendation yet to be addressed is a child abuse registry that could prevent staff with substantiated abuse allegations from being hired at another facility. Currently, even when staff are fired for abuse, there is no central database that warns future employers. And many end up working in similar positions caring for vulnerable children or adults, according to the audit. 

Wintrow said this issue likely requires legislative action. 

Earlier this month, state agencies were told to cut next year’s budget requests by 3%. That financial tightening loomed in lawmakers’ minds prompting concern from Wintrow and Rep. Steve Berch, D-Boise, about the additional funding needed to hire staff and properly bolster oversight in children’s treatment facilities. 

“When it comes time to present budgets to (the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee), I would ask that your department present a complete, full amount of money that is actually necessary to do this stuff we're talking about here today, especially in the face of budget cuts,” Berch said. “I know there's a tendency to lowball requests in hopes that they will be passed, that they'll be approved, but I think the Legislature needs to know what it actually takes to actually do the job.” 

Wintrow scheduled another meeting to receive progress reports from the ombudsman and Department of Health and Welfare in June, one year after the audit was released. 

“If we care about kids and their safety, let's make sure that oversight happens,” Wintrow said after the meeting, “and let's make sure it's funded appropriately.”