Report 2007-115 All Recommendation Responses

Report 2007-115: Sex Offender Placement: State Laws Are Not Always Clear, and No One Formally Assesses the Impact Sex Offender Placement Has on Local Communities (Release Date: April 2008)

Recommendation #1 To: Justice, Department of

To ensure that registered adult sex offenders are not residing in licensed facilities that serve children, Justice should provide Social Services with the appropriate identifying information to enable Social Services to investigate those instances in which the registered addresses of sex offenders were the same as child care or foster care facilities. If necessary, Justice and Social Services should seek statutory changes that would permit Justice to release identifying information to Social Services so that it may investigate any matches.

1-Year Agency Response

Justice stated that it has actively worked with Social Services to ensure that registered adult sex offenders are not residing in licensed facilities that serve children. It further stated that it continues to make available to Social Services the appropriate identifying information to enable Social Services to investigate those instances in which the registered addresses of sex offenders were the same as child care or foster care facilities. (See 2010-406 p. 208)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Recommendation #2 To: Social Services, Department of

If necessary, Justice and Social Services should seek statutory changes that would permit Justice to release identifying information to Social Services so that it may investigate any matches.

1-Year Agency Response

Social Services stated that it has investigated the 49 instances we identified in our report in which the registered addresses in Justice's database for sex offenders were the same as the official addresses of facilities licensed by Social Services that serve children. Social Services stated that it took appropriate actions to address those that were in violation of the terms and condition of their licensure. Further, as recommended, Social Services indicated it sponsored an assembly bill during the 2007-08 regular session that, among other things, would have provided the explicit authority for Justice to share its registered sex offender database with Social Services; however, the bill did not pass. Although the legislation was not successful, Social Services indicated it has continued to perform comparisons of the addresses of sex offenders listed on Megan's list with those of licensed children's facilities. (See 2010-406, p. 208)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Recommendation #3 To: Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of

To ensure that it complies with its policies and interpretation of state laws, Corrections should continue to monitor the addresses of paroled sex offenders to ensure that they are not residing with other sex offenders, including those not on parole, in the same unit of a multifamily dwelling.

6-Month Agency Response

Corrections stated that it completed an audit of all adult sex offender parolees and it continues to monitor any situation of alleged noncompliance with state laws and its policies. It also noted that it issued a policy memorandum to appropriate parole staff to clarify residence restrictions for sex offenders. Further, it requires parole agents in its Juvenile Division to confirm with local law enforcement that no other registered sex offenders are living in a proposed placement. (See 2009-406 p. 205)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

Recommendation #4 To: Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of

To ensure that it maintains all necessary data to carry out its functions, Corrections' Juvenile Division should update its database to include the Social Security numbers and criminal investigation and identification numbers for all juvenile offenders under its jurisdiction.

1-Year Agency Response

Corrections noted that it issued a memorandum requiring supervisors to review the Juvenile Division's database to determine which parolees are missing criminal investigation and identification numbers. It indicated that this process was completed by December 30, 2008. (See 2010-406 p. 210)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Recommendation #5 To: Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of

To comply with legal requirements and its own policies, Corrections should ensure that its parole regions provide timely notification of the release of all parolees to the applicable law enforcement agencies.

1-Year Agency Response

Corrections stated that its Juvenile Division provided training to all support staff to reinforce the policy related to providing timely notification of the release of all parolees to the applicable law enforcement agencies. Further, the director of Juvenile Parole Operations issued a memorandum reminding all parole staff of the notification requirements. Additionally, Corrections indicated that the assistant supervising parole agent within its Juvenile Division conducts, at a minimum, quarterly reviews with the agent of record to verify the registration receipt and the copy of such receipt is in the field file. (See 2010406 p. 211)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Recommendation #6 To: Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of

To comply with legal requirements and its own policies, Corrections should ensure that its parole agents review all registration receipts to make certain that all parolees required to register as sex offenders do so within five working days of moving into a local jurisdiction.

6-Month Agency Response

Corrections stated that its Division of Adult Parole Operations issued a policy reiterating registration requirements pursuant to various state laws. Further, it noted that the Division of Adult Parole Operations issued a separate policy directing staff to provide enhanced notification to law enforcement agencies, in addition to that already provided in accordance with laws. (See 2009-406 p. 206)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

Recommendation #7 To: Corrections and Rehabilitation, Department of

To comply with legal requirements and its own policies, Corrections should ensure that the Juvenile Division's parole agents monitor juvenile parolees as required and maintain all documents to support its monitoring efforts.

6-Month Agency Response

To ensure that the Juvenile Division's parole agents monitor juvenile parolees as required and maintain all documents to support its monitoring efforts, according to Corrections, its Juvenile Division provided refresher training to all field parole agents regarding contact standards for various cases. Corrections also indicated that it plans to provide training to the agents of record in the Juvenile Division to document the contacts and to place the documentation in the field file. (See 2009-406 p. 206)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2007-115

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.