Report 2019-103 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 2019-103: California Is Not Adequately Prepared to Protect Its Most Vulnerable Residents From Natural Disasters (Release Date: December 2019)

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Recommendations to Butte, County of
Number Recommendation Status
2

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.

Partially Implemented
5

To ensure that the county maintains updated emergency plans that are consistent with current best practices, the county should adopt ordinances establishing requirements for the frequency with which the county must update its emergency plans and should set that frequency at no greater than five years.

Will Not Implement
8

To ensure that the county's emergency planning efforts more fully account for people with access and functional needs in the future, the county should adopt county ordinances that require the county's emergency managers to do the following during each update to the county's emergency plans: when planning to protect people with access and functional needs, adhere to the best practices and guidance that FEMA, Cal OES, and other relevant authorities have issued; report publicly to the boards of supervisors during emergency planning about the steps they have taken to address access and functional needs; consult periodically with a committee of community groups that represent people with a variety of access and functional needs; require that representatives of the community group committees present to the board of supervisors their review of the adequacy of the emergency plans.

Will Not Implement
Recommendations to Emergency Services, Office of
Number Recommendation Status
12

To ensure that it fulfills its responsibilities under state law, Cal OES should, by no later than June 2020, issue the guidance that state law requires it to produce related to access and functional needs, including guidance related to establishing disaster registries and guidance on evacuating people with access and functional needs.

Partially Implemented
13

To ensure that it adequately equips local jurisdictions to send alert and warning messages in languages that their residents will easily understand, Cal OES should do the following: provide clear direction to individuals who speak English so that they know which of the translated messages they should use in what specific circumstances; revise the messages it has provided so that local jurisdictions can more easily adapt them for use in a variety of disaster situations; expand its style guide to include terminology that emergency managers are likely to need to effectively modify their local messages and also to include translations for the other commonly spoken languages in the State.

Pending
14

To improve local jurisdictions' ability to quickly retrieve guidance and resources related to planning to meet access and functional needs during natural disasters, Cal OES should make its emergency planning guidance and resources easily available through restructuring and improving its access and functional needs library webpage by April 2020.

Fully Implemented
Recommendations to Legislature
Number Recommendation Status
1

To ensure that local jurisdictions develop emergency plans that include adequate measures to protect and assist all people in their communities, including those with access and functional needs, the Legislature should require Cal OES to: review each county's emergency plans to determine whether the plans are consistent with FEMA best practices, including those practices that relate to adequately addressing access and functional needs; review 10 county plans each year, prioritizing counties that we included as part of this audit and that are at high risk for natural disasters; report the results of its plan reviews to the Legislature and on its website at least once every year; provide technical assistance to counties in developing and revising their emergency plans to address the issues that Cal OES identifies in its review; include representatives of people with a variety of access and functional needs in its review of county emergency plans.

Legislation Enacted
11

To ensure that, as the leader of emergency response efforts in California, Cal OES meets its responsibility to provide local jurisdictions with critical support in planning to meet access and functional needs of the population during natural disasters, the Legislature should require Cal OES to do the following: involve representatives of individuals with the full range of access and functional needs in the development of the state plan, the state emergency management system, and the guidance and training it provides to local jurisdictions; assess local jurisdictions' emergency response and recovery efforts during natural disasters, review their after-action reports to identify lessons learned, and annually disseminate guidance summarizing those lessons.

Legislation Enacted
Recommendations to Sonoma County
Number Recommendation Status
3

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.

Fully Implemented
6

To ensure that the county maintains updated emergency plans that are consistent with current best practices, the county should adopt ordinances establishing requirements for the frequency with which the county must update its emergency plans and should set that frequency at no greater than five years.

Fully Implemented
9

To ensure that the county's emergency planning efforts more fully account for people with access and functional needs in the future, the county should adopt county ordinances that require the county's emergency managers to do the following during each update to the county's emergency plans: when planning to protect people with access and functional needs, adhere to the best practices and guidance that FEMA, Cal OES, and other relevant authorities have issued; report publicly to the boards of supervisors during emergency planning about the steps they have taken to address access and functional needs; consult periodically with a committee of community groups that represent people with a variety of access and functional needs; require that representatives of the community group committees present to the board of supervisors their review of the adequacy of the emergency plans.

Will Not Implement
Recommendations to Ventura County
Number Recommendation Status
4

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.

Partially Implemented
7

To ensure that the county maintains updated emergency plans that are consistent with current best practices, the county should adopt ordinances establishing requirements for the frequency with which the county must update its emergency plans and should set that frequency at no greater than five years.

Will Not Implement
10

To ensure that the county's emergency planning efforts more fully account for people with access and functional needs in the future, the county should adopt county ordinances that require the county's emergency managers to do the following during each update to the county's emergency plans: when planning to protect people with access and functional needs, adhere to the best practices and guidance that FEMA, Cal OES, and other relevant authorities have issued; report publicly to the boards of supervisors during emergency planning about the steps they have taken to address access and functional needs; consult periodically with a committee of community groups that represent people with a variety of access and functional needs; require that representatives of the community group committees present to the board of supervisors their review of the adequacy of the emergency plans.

Will Not Implement


Print all recommendations and responses.