Whenever possible, Child Welfare social workers try to reunify children with parents or caregivers after they have been removed from an unsafe environment. Reunification generally requires connecting families with services that can help with substance abuse or other issues to be resolved. As case workers and other staff at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare have been saddled with heavier workloads and more requirements, they say they have less time to devote to those efforts, resulting in fewer reunifications.