Idaho Health and Welfare closes 9 offices

BOISE - About a third of the state's field offices for the Department of Health and Welfare are being closed and 126 workers laid off within the next two months as the department struggles to cope with a shrinking budget.

Department officials announced Tuesday that offices in American Falls, Bellevue, Bonners Ferry, Emmett, Jerome, McCall, Orofino, Rupert and Soda Springs would close within the next two months, and some services in the St. Maries office would be shifted to Coeur d'Alene.

In a letter to lawmakers, Director Dick Armstrong said there are 87 employees at the nine offices slated for closure, and 21 positions will be eliminated, with the remaining workers reassigned. Another 32 positions will be cut from the department's administrative offices in Boise, and other regional offices within the agency will lose 73 workers.

Four of the 19 staff members at the Orofino office will lose their jobs after the closure at the end of May, said Emily Simnitt, public relations officer for the Health and Welfare department in Boise.

The remaining 15 workers will be transferred to other offices or other arrangements will be made, she said.

The biggest change in the Orofino area will be for people who are applying for benefits, such as food stamps. Simnitt said that after the closure, the best option would be for people needing such services to travel to the nearest available Health and Welfare office to fill out their applications. But for those who are unable to travel, applications will be mailed out upon request.

Other services, such as child welfare and mental health, will continue to be offered, although Simnitt did not have the details of how that will work out. The physical office will be closed and whatever lease arrangement has been made will be terminated, she said.

Armstrong said the office closures and layoffs are expected to save the department about $7 million.

"The closures will cause hardship and inconvenience for many people, but resources are not available to continue the current level of office support," Armstrong wrote.

The Legislature left the decision on how to balance the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare's $138 million general fund budget in Armstrong's hands. In a news release, the department said it evaluated traffic at each of the offices, as well as the ability to shift services to another location.

Many of the offices being closed had smaller caseloads than those carried at other offices, the department said.

Health and Welfare clients will have to wait longer to get phone responses, have their applications for services processed and meet with staffers, the department said.

Officials said child welfare and mental health services will continue to be provided in the regions affected by office closures.