Idaho Officials Want Boost to Foster Care Payments

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Officials with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare say the state's reimbursement payments to foster parents are among the lowest in the nation. Now some lawmakers are supporting a proposal to boost those payments by about a dollar a day.  Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, told The Spokesman-Review on Monday that he once looked into becoming a foster parent himself. Vick views the budget request as more justified than others that have come before the Legislature's budget-setting committee.

Last year the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare asked for a $1 million boost to foster parent reimbursements. Lawmakers granted half that, marking the first increase to the program in about seven years. This year, the department is asking for the other half, a $500,000 increase.