Legislation would allow H&W to have a secure treatment facility for disabled patients who require it

Idaho’s state Department of Health & Welfare currently, under its licensing rules, can’t have a secure area in either of its treatment facilities for people with developmental disabilities.  “We are unable to lock doors,” Cameron Gilliland, deputy administrator of the Division of Family and Community Services, told the House Health & Welfare Committee this morning. “People have the ability to walk around, leave the facility.”

Under new legislation introduced today on a unanimous vote of the committee, the department would have authorization to operate a secure treatment facility for adults with developmental disabilities who have been found by a court to “present a substantial threat to the safety of others if not evaluated or treated in a secure facility.” The bill includes measures to guarantee that patients’ civil rights are protected. “For the past several years, we have been challenged with a small number of individuals who need services in a secure facility for not only their safety, but the safety of other clients, our staff and the public,” Gilliland told the lawmakers.

The department operates two treatment facilities for adults with developmental disabilities: The Southwest Idaho Treatment Center in Nampa and Kyler House in Hayden. Gilliland said the secure treatment area likely would be located within the Nampa facility. Today’s committee introduction clears the way for a full hearing; the bill, HB 44 , still would need passage in the full House and Senate and the governor’s signature to become law.