Report 2007-037 All Recommendation Responses

Report 2007-037: Department of Housing and Community Development: Awards of Housing Bond Funds Have Been Timely and Complied With the Law, but Monitoring of the Use of Funds Has Been Inconsistent (Release Date: September 2007)

Recommendation #1 To: Housing and Community Development, Department of

The department should implement record-keeping procedures for the Emergency Housing Program to ensure that applicants who receive awards have been properly evaluated.

1-Year Agency Response

By the end of October 2007 the department indicated that it finalized standardized record filing and maintenance procedures for the Emergency Housing Program. In addition, by the end of February 2008, the department says it completed its file review and organization of existing files. (See 2009-406 p. 240)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Recommendation #2 To: Housing and Community Development, Department of

The department should continue its efforts to consistently monitor sponsors? use of housing bond funds by considering eliminating its process of overriding restrictions on advances for the CalHome Program.

1-Year Agency Response

The department reported that it established clear procedures to guide staff in evaluating circumstances in which an advance above the 25 percent limitation may be appropriate and in documenting justifications received from awardees. In cases where advances are provided, the department stated that staff will evaluate actual performance, as measured by receipt of borrower summaries, at 60-day intervals following the advance. (See 2009-406 p. 240)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Recommendation #3 To: Housing and Community Development, Department of

The department should continue its efforts to consistently monitor sponsors' use of housing bond funds by giving high priority to finalizing and implementing monitoring procedures for the CalHome and Emergency Housing programs, which do not currently have such procedures in place.

1-Year Agency Response

The department stated that it has finalized the design of its monitoring program of the CalHome program and that on-site reviews by CalHome staff are continuing. In regards to the Emergency Housing Program, the department says that in January 2008, it finalized its monitoring procedures and that on-site monitoring has begun. (See 2009-406 p. 241)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

Recommendation #4 To: Housing and Community Development, Department of

The department should continue its efforts to consistently monitor sponsors' use of housing bond funds by reviewing its other housing bond programs that were not specifically evaluated in this initial audit to ensure that monitoring procedures are in place and operating.

1-Year Agency Response

The department indicates in-progress monitoring processes and, where appropriate, post completion/long-term monitoring processes are now in place for all bond programs not included in the audit with the exception of the new programs under Proposition 1C that are still in the initial design phase or have recently completed that phase. The department says that in these cases, monitoring program design is under way and that it intends to complete this effort before contracts are executed. (See 2009-406 p. 241)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2007-037

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.