Appendix
Status of Prior State Auditor’s Recommendations That Have Not Been Fully Implemented
As discussed in Table 7, this audit requested that the State Auditor determine the status of applicable recommendations from previous state auditor reports. The State Auditor has issued five reports that made a total of 32 recommendations to departments that were related to this audit’s scope of Social Services’ processes for conducting background checks and ensuring that registered sex offenders are not present in licensed facilities.13 Although almost a third of these recommendations have been implemented, many have been either only partially implemented or not implemented. Some of these prior recommendations address concerns that are very similar to those we noted in our current audit. Table A presents the recommendations we determined are not fully implemented with an explanation for our assessment. Where applicable, we identify the pages in our report that discuss our assessment and related recommendations.
Recommendation |
Status |
---|---|
Social Services |
|
To ensure that criminal history exemptions are not granted to individuals that may pose a threat to the health and safety of children, the department should follow its new procedures that require management to review all criminal exemptions involving felonies. Additionally, the department should require management to periodically review and approve a representative sample of all other exemptions granted. |
Partially Implemented |
To ensure that criminal history exemptions are not granted to individuals that may pose a threat to the health and safety of children, the department should exercise caution when granting exemptions and actively consider all available information, not just RAP sheets. When considering the additional information, the department should perform any needed follow‑up while it determines whether to grant someone an exemption. To the extent that the department believes it needs statutory changes to appropriately carry out its responsibilities, the department should seek such changes. |
Partially Implemented |
To process criminal history checks as quickly as possible, the department should establish a goal within which it must notify individuals that they must request a criminal history exemption and work to make certain that all such notices are sent within the prescribed time frame. |
Not Implemented |
To process criminal history checks as quickly as possible, the department should develop safeguards to help ensure that municipal agencies provide requested information promptly so that the department meets its goal of granting or denying exemptions within 45 days. |
Partially Implemented |
To process criminal history checks as quickly as possible, the department should use its tracking system to identify cases that are not receiving sufficient attention from staff or where those seeking criminal history exemptions are not providing information promptly, and take action to close or expedite those cases. |
Partially Implemented |
To implement the FBI record‑checking requirement in accordance with the law, the department should reevaluate its current policies and procedures for reviewing all individuals’ FBI records. |
Not Implemented |
To implement the FBI record‑checking requirement in accordance with the law, the department should properly apply the requirements that allow individuals to work with or be in close proximity to children while their FBI check is pending. |
Partially Implemented |
To allow the district offices to enforce all license revocations and facility exclusion decisions promptly, effectively, and consistently, the department should establish policies and procedures to guide district offices. The procedures should include time frames within which district offices must make two types of visits: one to make certain that individuals with revoked licenses are no longer caring for children and another to ensure that individuals who have been barred from child care facilities have not been present. In addition, the department should clearly specify the circumstances when a visit is not necessary and the type of information the district may use as evidence that the individual is complying with the revocation and exclusion order. |
Partially Implemented |
To ensure that it processes all legal cases promptly, the department should reassess its goal of filing a case pleading within six months of receiving the district offices’ request for a legal action and strive to shorten it. Once it sets a more appropriate time goal for processing legal actions, the department should ensure that its processing goals for legal cases are met. |
Partially Implemented |
Justice |
|
To provide children with the continued protection they deserve, Justice should establish a system to track and immediately notify the department of crimes individuals commit subsequent to the department’s criminal history review. |
Partially Implemented |
To provide the department with the most complete information possible on which to base its exemption decisions, Justice should continue working to help ensure that all criminal history information is forwarded from municipal agencies to Justice in a timely manner. |
Partially Implemented |
Audit 2002‑114, issued in August 2003; Department of Social Services: Continuing Weaknesses in the Department’s Community Care Licensing Programs May Put the Health and Safety of Vulnerable Clients at Risk |
|
Social Services |
|
To ensure that criminal history exemptions are not granted to individuals who may pose a threat to the health and safety of clients in community care facilities, the department should make certain it has clear policies and procedures for granting criminal history exemptions. |
Not Implemented |
To ensure that criminal history exemptions are not granted to individuals who may pose a threat to the health and safety of clients in community care facilities, the department should ensure staff are trained on the types of information they should obtain and review when considering a criminal history exemption, such as clarifying self‑disclosed crimes and vague character references. |
Partially Implemented |
To process criminal history reviews as quickly as possible so that delays do not impede individuals’ right to work or its licensed facilities’ ability to operate efficiently, the department should work to make certain that staff meet established time frames for notifying individuals that they must request a criminal history exemption and for making exemption decisions as requested. |
Not Implemented |
The department should assess its quality control review process and ensure that these policies and procedures encompass a review of the key elements of the exemption decision process and staffs’ completion of appropriate and necessary correspondence. |
Partially Implemented |
The department should ensure that policies and procedures are consistent and clear on where the responsibility lies for ensuring that the necessary action occurs upon an [arrest‑only] investigation’s completion. |
Not Implemented |
The department should review and enforce its arrest‑only policies and procedures to ensure that it is issuing criminal history clearances only when appropriate to do so. In addition, the department should properly train staff on these policies and procedures. |
Partially Implemented |
To ensure the department can account for all subsequent RAP sheets it receives and that it processes this information promptly, the department should develop and implement a policy for recording a subsequent RAP sheet’s receipt and train staff on this policy. In addition, upon receiving a subsequent RAP sheet with a conviction, the department should ensure that staff meet established time frames for notifying individuals that they need an exemption. |
Partially Implemented |
The department should conduct follow‑up visits to ensure that enforcement actions against facilities are carried out. The department should also document its follow‑up for enforcement of revocation and exclusion cases. |
Partially Implemented |
Justice |
|
Justice should continue to implement and further develop automated systems that not only increase criminal history reporting, but also ensure that reporting agencies submit arrest and disposition information more quickly and with fewer errors. |
Partially Implemented |
Sources: California State Auditor’s analysis of Justice’s and Social Services’ records and interviews with key staff members about the recommendations identified in the table.
Footnotes
13 Table A only includes recommendations from two of these audits because all relevant recommendations from the other three audit reports have been fully implemented. These other reports are 2007‑115 (April 2008), Sex Offender Placement: State Laws Are Not Always Clear, and No One Formally Assesses the Impact Sex Offender Placement Has on Local Communities; 2011‑101.1 (October 2011), Child Welfare Services: California Can and Must Provide Better Protection and Support for Abused and Neglected Children; and 2015‑502 (July 2015), Follow‑Up—California Department of Social Services: Although Making Progress, It Could Do More to Ensure the Protection and Appropriate Placement of Foster Children.