Report 2015-502 Recommendations
When an audit is completed and a report is issued, auditees must provide the State Auditor with information regarding their progress in implementing recommendations from our reports at three intervals from the release of the report: 60 days, six months, and one year. Additionally, Senate Bill 1452 (Chapter 452, Statutes of 2006), requires auditees who have not implemented recommendations after one year, to report to us and to the Legislature why they have not implemented them or to state when they intend to implement them. Below, is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced and a link to the most recent response from the auditee addressing their progress in implementing the recommendation and the State Auditor's assessment of auditee's response based on our review of the supporting documentation.
Recommendations in Report 2015-502: Follow-Up—California Department of Social Services: Although Making Progress, It Could Do More to Ensure the Protection and Appropriate Placement of Foster Children (Release Date: July 2015)
| Recommendations to Social Services, Department of | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number | Recommendation | Status |
| 1 | To ensure that all address matches of registered sex offenders who potentially reside or work at a licensed facility or foster home are reviewed, Social Services should improve its current mechanism to track and monitor the outcome of each address match it identifies. This tracking mechanism should allow Social Services to actively reconcile the number of address matches identified through its address comparison process with the number of completed reviews to ensure that it appropriately reviewed each match. Further, this mechanism should allow Social Services to actively monitor and report on any overdue investigations. |
Fully Implemented |
| 2 | To improve its review process, preserve institutional knowledge, and ensure that staff consistently implement registered sex offender reviews in the future, Social Services should better document its review procedures. For example, Social Services should better document its screening process by identifying criteria for determining when it is acceptable to exclude certain address matches from investigation and by providing an explanation to staff for why it is safe to remove address matches that meet those particular criteria. |
Fully Implemented |
| 3 | To ensure that counties' use of foster family agency placements is justified, Social Services should take action to implement the recommendation we previously made in our 2011 audit. Specifically, Social Services should continue working to revise its rates paid to foster family agencies and to ensure that it has reasonable support to justify each rate component, especially the administrative fee it currently pays these agencies. |
Fully Implemented |
| 4 | To ensure that counties' use of foster family agency placements is justified, Social Services should take action to implement the recommendation we previously made in our 2011 audit. Specifically, Social Services should require counties to give licensed foster homes a higher priority than foster family agencies for children that do not have identified treatment needs. |
Will Not Implement |
| 5 | To ensure that counties' use of foster family agency placements is justified, Social Services should take action to implement the recommendation we previously made in our 2011 audit. Specifically, Social Services should require counties to prepare a detailed justification for any child placed with a foster family agency. |
Will Not Implement |