Office of Performance Evaluations

Criminal Justice: Reentry

Limited capacity, unknown program effects, and insufficient metrics impede reentry success in Idaho.

Sustainability of Idaho's Direct Care Workforce

Idaho has a shortage of direct care workers that is worse than the national average because pay is capped by Medicaid rates.

Idaho Public K-12 Classified Employees

The state salary-based apportionment formula covers about 60 percent of wages for qualifying classified employees.

Medicaid Rate Setting

The Division of Medicaid does not have the management capacity to successfully conduct a systematic rate review.

K-12 Public School Buildings

A statewide facility condition assessment of K-12 public school buildings is needed. The last assessment was done in 1993.

Volunteer Providers of Emergency Medical Services

Idaho faces EMS funding and staffing challenges that could affect patient care, especially in rural communities.

Evaluation and Retention of Child Neglect Referrals

Idaho statute does not prevent the Department of Health and Welfare from keeping child protection referral and investigation records indefinitely.

Investments in Postsecondary Education

State investments in Advanced Opportunities and Opportunity Scholarships have not been clearly linked to program outcomes.

Designing a Review of Tax Preferences

Idaho has many tax preferences but little information about the extent to which they meet the Legislature’s goals.

Driving Authority for Unauthorized Immigrants

States that offer driving authority to unauthorized immigrants lack sufficient data to conclusively show how driving authority affects automobile insurance and road safety.

County Revenues

Property taxes are a key component of county revenues, but data limitations are an ongoing challenge to property tax analysis.

State Response to Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias

No entity is charged with executing or updating the state plan to address Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Preparedness of Idahoans to Retire: Deciding the State's Role

Before evaluating specific options, Idaho policymakers must first decide on the state’s role in expanding workplace retirement.

Chained CPI

Over time, inflation significantly impacts any policy that references a dollar amount. Idaho rarely adjusts for inflation.

Correctional capacity

Over the past decade, the state’s approach to managing corrections has been designed for relatively short-term budget planning.

Court-ordered fines and fees

Idaho would benefit from a statewide system of accountability for the assessment and collection of fines and fees.

State mandates to counties

A collaborative relationship between counties and the state will improve the implementation of mandates.

SW Idaho Treatment Center

The center is a vestige of an old treatment model that is no longer tenable. Its population is too small to provide a variety of needed expertise and its setting does not replicate community living.

Pardons & parole

New commission leadership has changed archaic practices in data management. They developed automated systems that reduce inefficiencies and help ensure fair treatment of offenders.

Reducing adverse outcomes

A roadmap for the Legislature and all child welfare partners on how to reduce the risk of adverse outcomes for children and youth in Idaho’s child welfare system.

Child protection cases

Gaps in child representation have occurred and the state does not have a way to validate that all children and youth are being served.

Residential care

A dysfunctional work environment in the nursing home survey team has significantly contributed to mistrust and fear among nursing home administrators.

Jurisdiction in Indian country

Shared jurisdiction complicates interactions and relationships among stakeholders working in Indian country.

Child welfare system

Gaps in placement services, program capacity, organizational culture, and system-level oversight prevent the child welfare system from performing at a high level of expectation.

K-12 education funding

Many of the funding formulas for special education and programs in the support budget for K-12 public education are not based on need or actual costs.

Administrative hearings

A risk of real or perceived bias is present in all administrative hearings. Idaho agencies have implemented a variety of safeguards to mitigate this risk.

Behavioral health

The Legislature and the Department of Health and Welfare have successfully addressed concerns about the overreliance on psychosocial rehabilitation.

Health districts

The formula that distributes state general funds to public health districts is not clearly or consistently linked to program needs.

Holiday leave

A policy debated since 1997, holiday leave is interpreted and implemented differently among state agencies

Schoolnet

Goals for a statewide instructional management system were not realized because of poor management, decisions, and system functionality.

ISEE

Planning and implementing the Idaho System for Education Excellence fell short but can still become a sustainable K–12 longitudinal data system.

Legal services

Some outsourced legal services could be given to the Office of the Attorney General and save the state money

Salary savings

Salary savings is not an adequate tool for bridging the gap between actual employee pay and policy pay rates set by the state