2023-130 Department of State Hospitals – Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) Conditional Release Program (CONREP)
Published: October 15, 2024
Audit Recommendations Disclosure
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.
Recommendation 1
To ensure that housing committee members are able to effectively assist DSH in locating and securing housing for program participants, DSH should develop guidance by December 2024 for the committees that clearly defines the assistance each member of the committee should contribute based on the member’s areas of expertise. For example, the county counsel could identify county-owned properties suitable for potential placements, and law enforcement could provide areas where existing sex offender registrants in the county tend to reside.
Recommendation 2
To potentially reduce the time needed to place program participants in community housing, DSH should explore establishing state-owned transitional housing similar to other states. Specifically, by September 2025, DSH should conduct an analysis of the benefits and feasibility of establishing transitional housing facilities for the program. To the extent it finds transitional housing beneficial to the program, it should seek necessary funding and legislative authority to implement such housing for the program.
Recommendation 3
To obtain timely assurance that Liberty Healthcare is operating the program in compliance with relevant statutes and policies, DSH should begin its next formal program review of Liberty Healthcare by March 2025, at which time it should also establish defined intervals for future program reviews.
Recommendation 4
To ensure that Liberty Healthcare remedies program deficiencies in a timely manner, DSH should develop a process by December 2024 to track Liberty Healthcare’s implementation of the recommendations resulting from program and quarterly reviews. This process should include DSH identifying the recommendations Liberty Healthcare should prioritize, requiring Liberty Healthcare to provide updates on the key tasks it must accomplish to implement each recommendation, and requiring Liberty Healthcare to provide estimated completion dates for each key task and each recommendation.
Recommendation 5
To ensure that the State receives the best value when contracting for program services, DSH should, by March 2025, analyze the feasibility of using separate contracts to allow vendors to bid on providing particular types of services or providing services in specific regions of the State. For example, DSH could solicit bids for a housing placement services contract separate from a contract for overseeing and providing services to program participants after they are placed in the community. DSH should also evaluate whether it would be more cost effective to conduct some activities, such as the housing search, internally.
