Report 2016-109 Recommendation 3 Responses
Report 2016-109: Uniform Complaint Procedures: The California Department of Education's Inadequate Oversight Has Led to a Lack of Uniformity and Compliance in the Processing of Complaints and Appeals (Release Date: January 2017)
Recommendation #3 To: Education, Department of
To ensure that it consistently processes complaints and appeals in a timely manner and that it investigates and reviews all UCP complaints and appeals in compliance with state law and regulations, by July 2017 Education should designate a central office to receive all complaints and appeals. This central office should distribute complaints and appeals to the correct divisions for investigation or review.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022
Status unchanged: Education centralized tracking of all UCP complaints and appeals through a single database, with more than 80 percent of all complaints and appeals reporting to one Assistant General Counsel; however, it is not feasible to add the remaining disbursed staff within the department to receive, evaluate and distribute the remaining complaints and appeals, which are minimal in quantity. As such, Education considers this recommendation complete and no further updates will be provided.
- Completion Date: October 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
Education states that it will not take further actions to implement our recommendation. Further, although it states that it has established a single centralized database, with more than 80 percent of all complaints and appeals reporting to one Assistant General Counsel, it did not provide any documentation to support its claim.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2021
Education centralized tracking of all UCP complaints and appeals through a single database, and reorganized the reporting of the two major UCP offices responsible for more than 80 percent of all complaints and appeals under one Assistant General Counsel; however, Education determined that it is not feasible to add the remaining disbursed staff within the department to receive, evaluate and distribute the remaining complaints and appeals, which are minimal in quantity. Although Education will not have a centralized office for all complaints and appeals, the tracking system and processes implemented resulted in an improvement of 73 percent of all complaints and appeals meeting the statutory 60-day timeline for a response as of December 2020.The remaining 27 percent were handled within the statutory exceptions process for delays that were either beyond the control of Education, including COVID-19 related school closures, or due to the complexity of the investigation or appeal.
- Estimated Completion Date: December 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2020
Education centralized tracking of all UCP complaints and appeals through a single database, and reorganized the reporting of the two major UCP offices responsible for more than 80 percent of all complaints and appeals under one senior manager; however, Education determined that it is not feasible to incorporate staff in other disparate and distinct programs, disbursed throughout different branches within the department, under the senior manager to receive, evaluate and distribute the remaining complaints and appeals, which are minimal in quantity. The centralized tracking system and processes implemented resulted in an improvement of 90 percent of all complaints and appeals being resolved within the statutory 60-day timeline for a response as of December 2019, and the remaining 10 percent being resolved within the statutory exceptions process for delays that were either beyond the control of Education or due to the complexity of the investigation or appeal.
- Estimated Completion Date: December 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2019
Education is establishing a central UCP office to receive and process all complaints and appeals to streamline the UCP process.
- Estimated Completion Date: December 2020
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
1-Year Agency Response
Education continues to not concur with the recommendation to designate a central office to receive all complaints and appeals for the reasons set forth in our prior responses. However, Education strengthened coordination within the department with the full implementation of a customized central database that tracks UCP complaints and appeals. The database has been fully operational as of September 2017.
- Response Date: February 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Will Not Implement
Based on the Education's response and the documentation it provided, it is unclear whether the central database that Education refers to in its response would prevent or mitigate the effects of receiving complaints and appeals by an incorrect division. As we stated in the report, we believe that a central office for receiving complaints and appeals would help eliminate complainants' confusion about where to send a complaint or appeal and would streamline the process by preventing complaints and appeals from going to an incorrect division.
6-Month Agency Response
Education continues to not concur with the recommendation to designate a central office to receive all complaints and appeals for the reasons set forth in the response. However, Education purchased software (Time Matters by LexisNexis) and worked with an outside vendor to create a customized central database for tracking UCP complaints and appeals to ensure resolution in a timely manner. Training on the new database was conducted in July 2017, and it is anticipated that the database will be fully operational by September 2017.
- Response Date: August 2017
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Will Not Implement
It is unclear whether the software that Education refers to in its response would prevent or mitigate the effects of receiving complaints and appeals by an incorrect division. As we stated in the report, we believe that a central office for receiving complaints and appeals would help eliminate complainants' confusion about where to send a complaint or appeal and would streamline the process by preventing complaints and appeals from going to an incorrect division.
60-Day Agency Response
Education continues to not concur with the recommendation to designate a central office to receive all complaints and appeals for the reasons set forth in the response. However, Education is developing a centralized database that can increase coordination within the department.
- Response Date: April 2017
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Will Not Implement
As we stated in the report, we believe that a central office for receiving complaints and appeals would help eliminate complainants' confusion about where to send a complaint or appeal and would streamline the process by preventing complaints and appeals from going to an incorrect division.
All Recommendations in 2016-109
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.