Report 2009-101 Recommendation 14 Responses

Report 2009-101: Department of Social Services: For the CalWORKs and Food Stamp Programs, It Lacks Assessments of Cost-Effectiveness and Misses Opportunities to Improve Counties' Antifraud Efforts (Release Date: November 2009)

Recommendation #14 To: Social Services, Department of

This recommendation has been superseded by a recommendation from a subsequent report. See 2015-503 #2.

Recognizing that the deterrence effect is difficult to measure, Social Services should develop a method that allows it to gauge the cost effectiveness of SFIS. Social Services should include in its efforts to measure cost effectiveness the administrative cost that counties incur for using SFIS. Based on its results, Social Services should determine whether the continued use of SFIS is justified.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From June 2015

Social Services largely concurs that the SFIS has limited utility, and effective 2012, discontinued its use in the CalFresh Program. With the SFIS nearing the end of its contract term and technology life cycle, Social Services is in the process of identifying alternative approaches for identity verification and preventing and detecting duplicate aid. As with any major information technology solution, Social Services will assess the cost-effectiveness of any new approach to fraud prevention and detection. Such cost-effectiveness estimates will be shared with the Legislature during the budget approval process.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: See 2015-503 #2 for the most current assessment

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2014

Previous Response: Social Services believes that a new independent cost-benefit analysis of Statewide Fingerprint Imaging System (SFIS) would not be beneficial because it believes that the studies it has conducted, including the original evaluation it performed in 1997, justifies the deterrence value of SFIS. (2011-406, p. 212)

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Will Not Implement

1-Year Agency Response

Social Services believes that a new independent cost-benefit analysis of SFIS would not be beneficial because it believes that the studies it has conducted, including the original evaluation it performed in 1997, which we concluded was flawed, justifies the deterrence value of SFIS. (2011-406, p. 212)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Will Not Implement

All Recommendations in 2009-101

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.