A "permanent reduction" by 30 percent of the offices of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare will result in Blaine County losing its only IDHW facility, located in Bellevue.
The Bellevue office is located at 621 N. Main St. and is not to be confused with the office of the South Central Public Health District, also in Bellevue at 117 E. Ash St. The health district—which provides immunizations, such as those for H1N1 last winter, and family planning services—will not be affected by the cuts.
Spokesperson Emily Simnitt said the Health and Welfare office will be closing sometime in May due to budget constraints, but only provides mental-health and child-welfare services. Common Health and Welfare services aren't available there.
"It wasn't a traditional office where you could go for applying for food stamps," she said.
Simnitt said this limitation of services is one reason why the Bellevue office, employing four workers, was chosen. One of the workers will be reassigned and the other three laid off.
Spokesman Tom Shanahan said the department will close nine of its 29 offices in the state in May and lay off 21 of 87 workers. An additional 105 positions will be cut from other offices, including 35 workers from administrative offices in Boise and 73 others working in regional offices.
Shanahan said Bellevue and the eight other offices being completely dismantled were picked after evaluating client traffic, the ability to deliver services from another location and potential savings.
Savings from the nine closures and 126 layoffs are estimated at $7 million annually.
Unfortunately for Blaine County, the two closest offices to the south—in Jerome and Rupert—are also being shut down. The other offices to be closed are in American Falls, Bonners Ferry, Emmett, McCall, Orofino and Soda Springs.
After the closure, the closest office to Blaine County will be in Twin Falls.
Simnitt said the Bellevue office had 79 mental-health clients, 14 foster-care placements and 52 assessments for child-placement services. She said the lack of a local office wouldn't greatly affect the child-welfare side of business because most of the work is done by visiting homes.
"That won't change," she said.
And those calling for child-protection services would still call 211. Where an office is needed, she said, the department would work on a plan to "minimize" travel.
Many services only require an initial visit to an office anyway to confirm identity, such as receiving food stamps. After that, she said, most things are done electronically.
But that's not as true with mental-health services.
Simnitt said some individuals need an office on a regular basis, but that's dependent on a case-by-case basis.
"We're still working on a plan for how to serve those clients," she said, later adding, "As the closure gets closer, we'll have more information."
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
The Bellevue office of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, above, will close permanently in May.
Photo by Willy Cook
