Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order Friday directed at improving the state’s foster care system.

Little’s order directs the Department of Health and Welfare to take a variety of steps to: build partnerships with nonprofit providers, promote and reduce barriers to adoption of children in the welfare system, seek opportunities to increase the number of foster families, promote early intervention programs to keep children out of the welfare system, improve inter-agency coordination and embed “family-centered decision-making” into rules.

“There is no category of children more in need of protection than those in the child welfare system,” Little said in a new release. “Through no fault of their own, children in foster care in Idaho face enormous challenges. They need our support, and so do the foster families who step up to care for them, love them, and provide them safety.

“The Promoting Families and Protecting Children Act will accelerate the improvements we know we need to address in our child welfare system in Idaho.”

The governor’s action comes on the heels of a flurry of action on child welfare the new health agency director made in his first couple of days on the job.

Health and Welfare Director Alex Adams put in place and recommended new rules on foster care and told the Board of Health and Welfare on Wednesday that improving the system was his No. 1 priority.

New Health and Welfare director focused on improving Idaho’s foster system

Adams joined Little while the governor signed the executive order Friday, and said it was a “step in the right direction.”

“There’s not one thing that will fully solve this, it’s going to take all of us, including those prospective foster parents opening their homes to these children to make a difference today,” Adams said in a video recorded Friday.

Adams said his goal is to double the amount of foster families in the system; there are fewer families than there are youth in the state’s care.

Little announced Adams, who had served as the governor’s budget director since 2019, as the new head of the health department in May.

Adams officially started the role on Wednesday, and he quickly made changes. On his first day, he signed temporary rules that waive every adoption fee and add to the definition of “kin” foster families who have had a relationship with a child for at least six months.

He also brought rule changes to the board for approval Thursday, including one that would reduce the requirement for initiation of work on an application to become a foster parent from 30 days to one business day. These temporary rules will go into effect July 1.

Little’s office said the governor had directed Adams to take these early regulator actions. Little also directed the health agency to create a “Foster Parent Bill of Rights” to inform foster families and agency staff about the foster parents rights while caring for children in the system.

The goal is to train employees over the summer and implement the bill of rights by Aug. 1, according to the release.

“Simply put, we have more children in need of a foster family than we have families to help them. We are seeking to change that,” Little said.

“Foster parents are heroes. They give of themselves and their resources to make a loving home available to children in need. We need to do all we can to make it easier for foster families to bring these children into their lives and homes.”

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on X @EyeOnBoiseGuido.