I've grown my own slips in southern CA, but am now with family in southern Idaho, and while I've given her slips before in years past and they do grow into plants and give decent yields, the potatoes don't seem to start growing slips on their own up here. Would appreciate any help.

Wash your "seed potatoes" (scrub lightly but thoroughly with a brush) with fresh water to remove any anti-sprouting chemicals/hormones that might have been applied. Then prepare a pot or 1 gallon nursery container, fill it with potting mix (not soil, potting mix). Put one or two seed potatoes on top of the potting mix, about half buried in the mix, but half exposed.

At that point they need warmth (70F + soil temperature) and lots of (sun)light. A heat mat/heating pad helps. Keeping them in a warm room in your house helps. Intense (close up) artificial light helps, if your warmest spots aren't in the direct sunlight for most of the day.

Sweet potatoes don't have any GPS or other 'location sensors' which could cause them to fail. If they have heat and light, they sprout.

Just to follow up, I'd offer some slips to ship to you, but I just bought my sweet potato "seed potatoes" at the grocery store this week. They are in a sunny, warm window right now, hopefully sprouting some. I wait for a few eyes to sprout before I put mine in the gallon nursery containers. Mine won't be ready to plant until early May.