Report 2019-103 Recommendation 4 Responses
Report 2019-103: California Is Not Adequately Prepared to Protect Its Most Vulnerable Residents From Natural Disasters (Release Date: December 2019)
Recommendation #4 To: Ventura County
To best prepare to protect and care for people with access and functional needs, the county should revise its emergency plans by following the best practices that we included in our report. The county should begin implementing these practices as soon as possible. By no later than March 2020, the county should develop a schedule for completing updates to its emergency plans.
1-Year Agency Response
The County of Ventura has and continues to update plans in accordance with state and federal requirements. This includes updating/adopting our Emergency Operations Plan on a 3-year cycle and our Hazard Mitigation Plan on a 5-year cycle. Numerous other plans that are not required by statute are updated as needed.
The County of Ventura is in the process of completing an update to our Emergency Operations Plan which includes the incorporation of Disability, Access & Functional needs (DAFN) concepts directly into the plan. These concepts were drawn feedback provided by a newly formed DAFN advisory committee. This committee is comprised of 50+ local stakeholders representing a variety of organizations and causes across Ventura County. The draft plan is slated to be published for public review and comment the first week of February and a virtual town hall will be held at the end of February before the plan is finalized and presented to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors for adoption.
- Completion Date: March 2021
- Response Date: January 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented
Ventura's response indicates that it is in the process of updating its plans, but has not yet finished updating them. We look forward to reviewing Ventura's completed plans. If those plans - and the manner in which they were developed - adhere to the best practices that we describe in the report, we will consider this recommendation to be fully implemented.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
60-Day Agency Response
The County of Ventura has drafted and approved an improvement matrix that addresses each one of the California State Auditors recommendations and a proposed implementation strategy and timeline. Some of the Auditor's recommendations have been implemented already and many remain in progress with a completion date of 12/31/2020 or sooner. Please refer to the attached matrix for more information.
- Estimated Completion Date: 12/31/2020
- Response Date: January 2020
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented
Ventura provided a timeline that includes a schedule for developing an alert and warning plan, an evacuation plan, a sheltering plan, and a local assistance center plan. The timeline also includes a schedule for implementing the best practices we discussed in the report. We will continue to track Ventura's progress through the subsequent follow-ups, and will assess the recommendation as fully implemented once the county has updated each of those plans in accordance with best practices.
All Recommendations in 2019-103
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.
