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Southwest Idaho needs volunteers and families to support foster youth • Idaho Capital Sun [1]
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Date: 2025-09-04
Amid a concerted effort by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to improve the state’s foster care system, some regions are still seeing significant challenges.
When children enter the state’s child welfare program, it can mean that not only do they need a foster family placement but many of these young children need someone to represent and advocate for them in what can often be complicated and protracted court cases.
These advocates are usually trained volunteers, and southwest Idaho is in need of more.
The Court Appointed Special Advocate, or CASA, program is run independently of the state health agency and the courts, and the volunteer and staff CASAs are children’s advocates throughout their entire case.
“We’re that one adult that’s always going to be there and check in on them every month and help them,” said Elisha Horrocks, executive director of CASA of Southwest Idaho.
The region is currently facing a shortage of CASA volunteers and foster families.
The organization operates as a standalone nonprofit with about 11 staff members and 90 volunteers, Horrocks said. Volunteers receive more than 30 hours of training and must pass background checks before they can serve on a case.
Judges in child protection cases appoint a CASA, also known as a guardian ad litem, who will meet with the child or children in the case monthly and represent them in court if they’re too young to go themselves.
CASA of Southwest Idaho — which serves the state’s third judicial district, encompassing Canyon, Owyhee, Gem, Payette, Washington and Adams counties — has supported an average of about 550 children.
How to become a CASA volunteer Be 21 years or older. Pass a background check with no history of sexual offenses, child abuse or neglect, or domestic violence. Commit to around 8 to 10 hours per month advocating for foster children. Learn more at casaofswidaho.org.
Idaho Health and Welfare invested in improving the foster system. Not every region has seen improvements.
In June 2024, the governor’s former budget chief, Alex Adams, took over as head of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and immediately announced a number of changes related to his laser focus on improving child welfare, the Idaho Press reported.
As part of this effort, the agency sought and the Legislature approved an additional $23 million to the child welfare budget, the Idaho Capital Sun reported. A major goal was to improve recruitment and retention of foster families, as well as reduce the number of children entering foster care by boosting prevention efforts.
Statewide, the agency went from a ratio of about 74 foster families for every 100 foster children in June 2024, to having just over a 1:1 ratio of families to kids, as of data provided Monday. State officials’ goal was to have more foster families than kids, so kids aren’t waiting on families.
North Idaho has a ratio of about 1.45 families for every child, and East Idaho has about 1.6 families per child. However, the Southwest Idaho region has less than one family per child, at a ratio of about .85, as of Monday.
Horrocks said she thinks there are many reasons for the declines the region is experiencing. The rates of child abuse are increasing, she said, and the severity of these cases takes a toll on volunteers.
She said the positive messaging from the state health agency may also lead people to believe that the help isn’t needed.
“A lot of what the department has come out with, is showing that that the foster system is doing good, and it made us feel a little unneeded, which isn’t the case for every district,” Horrocks said. “Some districts are doing very well. Our district is struggling.”
The lack of available foster families in the area means some of the children are sent elsewhere in the state or sometimes out-of-state, which can complicate the advocate’s job.
“We can’t always get to see the kids in person and have that interaction,” Horrocks said. “We’re still speaking with them, but it’s Zoom, and these kids are young. It’s hard to keep their attention on Zoom.”
Last year, more than 66% of children served in the program were under the age of 12.
Despite recent challenges, many of the volunteers end up staying, Horrocks said. In the last fiscal year, the program had a 94% retention rate.
“I think the volunteers see what the impact is that they have on these children’s lives,” she said. “And as hard as it is, it’s worth it.”
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