A guide to community resources and supports in Ada County, including resources for:

• Clothing; 
• Furniture; 
• Hygiene Counseling & Mental Health Services; 
• Dental; 
• Disability Services; 
• Education & After-school Programs; 
• Employment & Casual Labor; 
• Financial & Utility Assistance; 
• Food Pantries; 
• Friendship Feasts/ Community Free Meals Crisis / Resource Hotlines; 
• Housing Assistance; 
• Legal Assistance; 
• Medical Assistance; 
• Shelters/Showers; 
• Substance Abuse Treatment; 
• Support Groups; 
• Tax Resources and Questions; 
• Transportation; and 
• Vision.

[This page was last reviewed and updated on: 8/21/2020.]

Keeping children safe is one of the primary goals at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.  Services are designed to help protect children, while providing supports to strengthen families to prevent abuse and neglect. If a child is being abused or neglected the Department works as part of a team with law enforcement and the courts to protect the health and safety of each child. Whenever possible, children should remain with their family.

If you are indigent and cannot afford hospital and medical care, including medications, or basic necessities such as rent, food, and utilities, then the county is required by law to assist you in paying for them. This is a "last resort" program. This means that the county will pay for these services or necessities only if you have no other way of paying for them on a temporary basis.  If, for example, you receive Medical Assistance through the state, then that program must pay for your hospital and medical bills.

Emergency Help

If you or someone you know is being abused, get help as soon as possible. You can find the following kinds of help:

• Legal Help
• 24-hour domestic violence hotlines
• Shelters

Legal Help

Call the ILAS domestic violence hotline

208-746-7541
           

Staffed Monday-Friday 10:00 am to 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm Mountain Time (9:00 am to 11:30 am and 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm Pacific Time) by a legal aid attorney who can provide immediate free legal advice with civil problems involving domestic violence.

Translation services can be made available for Spanish speaking callers

Areas of legal advice include, but are not limited to:

• Cases to obtain, modify, or enforce civil protection orders
• Divorce-related separations
• Spousal and child support
• Child custody and/or visitation

To find more information about Idaho laws and ways to help yourself:

• Contact your local Court Assistance Office (CAO). There are many forms, instructions, and/or videos that you can use as a legal resource.
• Go to the CAO website to download forms, instructions, and/or videos. 

 http://www.courtselfhelp.idaho.gov/

To find a pro bono attorney:

• Call the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program
              (208) 334-4510
                      -or-
              1-800-221-3295
• Write the Idaho Volunteer Lawyers Program
              IVLP
              P.O. Box 895
              Boise, ID 83701-0895

To find a private attorney:

• Call the Idaho State Bar Lawyer Referral Service
              (208) 334-4500

If you have any questions about a lawyer, call the Idaho State Bar, (208) 334-4500

Domestic Violence 24-hour Hotlines and Shelters 

Idaho Crisis Lines

National Domestic Violence Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org/
1(800) 799−7233 or TTY 1(800)787−3224

Rose Advocates: https://www.roseadvocates.org/
24 hour Crisis Hotline: (208) 414-0740

Idaho Domestic Violence Shelters

Search for domestic violence shelters and other assistance. Proviced by the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence.

Search for domestic violence shelters and other assistance

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges has created a guide on How to Gather Technology Abuse Evidence for Court, whether as evidence in a civil protection order case, a custody case, or a divorce case. 

To view this guide, please visit: https://www.ncjfcj.org/publications/how-to-gather-technology-abuse-evidence-for-court/.

If you move to a new location to escape domestic violence, sexual abuse or stalking, the Address Confidentiality Program (ACP) can help keep your new address confidential. This is done through the use of a mail-forwarding service and substitute address. In accordance with Idaho Code § 19-57, all state and local agencies are required to accept the substitute address as the actual address of the individual.

Upon approval of your ACP application, your first-class mail is sent to the secure ACP substitute address and then forwarded to your new home. You can also use the substitute address for a variety of state and local government requirements, such as:

• • Applying for and receiving child support
  • Getting an Idaho driver’s license
  • Enrolling your children in public schools
  • Applying for a marriage license

The ACP can help protect you and your loved ones by keeping your physical address private, where it would appear in public records.

For more information on the Address Confidentiality Program and to fill out an application for the program, please visit the Idaho Secretary of State Office's website: https://sos.idaho.gov/address-confidentiality-program-acp/. You may also find further information attached below.

This page was last reviewed and updated on: August 17, 2020. Please visit the external Secretary of State's website to ensure that all forms attached here are up to date.

At the beginning of each month, parents and their child care provider will receive a "Notice" in the mail explaining how much ICCP expects to cover.  Providers will get a notice for every ICCP family whose children they care for. The information on these notices is important because it will tell parents and providers what the Department anticipates paying child care for the month and what the parent must pay. Both parents and providers must tell the case case worker who sent the notice if the information on the notices is not correct. Parents and providers can help make sure payments are correct by reporting any changes as soon as they know about them.

The Idaho Caregiver Alliance has developed a Caregiver Navigator Tool for unpaid family caregivers of adults or children which provides an assessment of your needs and resources to assist caregivers, such as help developing a care plan.

To take the Caregiver Screening to assess your needs or to find out more information, please visit: https://caregivernavigator.org/

Every child deserves a safe and loving home. Foster care and adoption provide that to Idaho’s youngest and most vulnerable citizens. However, children are not the only ones to benefit from these programs. Serving as a foster parent or adopting a child can be an extremely rewarding experience, the kind of experience that enriches the lives of everyone involved.

Head Start is a success in Idaho! Thirteen programs across our state have been producing true success stories since the 1960s.

Authorized through the Head Start Act of 1964,the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start Bureau, funds local public agencies, private non-profit organizations, and school systems for the purpose of operating Head Start pre-school programs at the community level. Grantees also include Tribal Programs for Native American children and Community Council of Idaho. For more information, please contact our office at (208) 345-1182.

For too many years, the criminal justice system ignored the rights of crime victims. In Idaho, that changed with the overwhelming voter ratification of the Victims Rights Amendment to the Idaho Constitution in November 1994.

The amendment is found in article I, Section 22 of the Idaho Constitution. Article I of the Idaho Constitution is entitled, “The Declaration of Rights.” It enshrines the rights Idahoans treasure the most. These rights include the right of free speech, the right of assembly, the right to a trial by jury, the right to keep and bear arms and, now, the rights of crime victims.

The National Housing Law Project has created a Know Your Rights Brochure on the Violence Against Women Act and its protections related to federally assisted housing for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking. 

Please view the brochure here for further information: https://nhlp.org/files/VAWA-2013-Packet.pdf. 

This pamphlet includes information on trauma bonding and how to identify it. If you have been in an abusive situation of any sort, you may have experienced trauma bonding. To learn more, please view our attached pamphlet. 

Under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a tenant may not be denied assistance, terminated from participation, or be evicted from your rental housing because that tenant is or has been a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.   

Am I a Protected Person Under VAWA?

VAWA only applies to certain kinds of rental housing. To find out whether you are a protected person under VAWA, view our Domestic Violence and Housing Rights Guide, attached below and available through this link: https://www.idaholegalaid.org/node/2763/domestic-violence-and-housing-rights-guide.

Notice of Occupancy Rights under the Violence Against Women Act

If you are a protected person under VAWA, you may use the attached “Notice of Occupancy Rights under the Violence Against Women Act” to invoke your rights as a tenant. You may also find this form attached below or through this link: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/mfh/violence_against_women_act. The attached form was created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and can be used by survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, or sexual assault to submit to their housing provider for protections under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). 

Certification Form for Domestic Violence, Stalking, Sexual Assault, or Dating Violence

If you are seeking VAWA protections from your housing provider, your housing provider may give you a written request that asks you to submit documentation about the incident or incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. In response to this request, you or someone on your behalf may complete the attached form and submit it to your housing provider. You may also find this form through this link: https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/housing/mfh/violence_against_women_act. The attached form was created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and can be used by survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking, or sexual assault to submit to their housing provider for protections under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). 

Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc. has created a Civil Protection Order Guide to help you understand who may file for a civil protection order, what circumstances and situations allow one to file for a civil protection order, and what relationships, if any, are required between the person filing for a civil protection order and the person the civil protection order is against. This guide also includes information on how to file for a civil protection order, what hearings take place, how to prepare for these hearings, and resources available to Idahoans. 

Please view the PDF below for more information.

Youth Empowerment Services (YES) is a system of care for youth in Idaho under 18 who may benefit from mental health support. YES uses a youth and family centered, team-based, and strengths-focused approach for early identification, treatment planning, and implementation of mental care.

https://youthempowermentservices.idaho.gov/