Report 2012-119 Recommendation 7 Responses

Report 2012-119: California Department of Veterans Affairs: It Has Initiated Plans to Serve Veterans Better and More Cost-Efficiently, but Further Improvements Are Needed (Release Date: May 2013)

Recommendation #7 To: Veterans Affairs, Department of

To better utilize unused space at the veterans homes, and to serve more veterans within legal restrictions, CalVet should develop a formal process for identifying, securing, and evaluating public-private partnership agreements with other entities that could provide services to more veterans than it currently serves, and update its tracking matrix to include the dates when such efforts were initiated or the date of the most recent status of those efforts.

1-Year Agency Response

1. CalVet has determined that a focus on public-private partnerships will take away focus on long-term care of veterans and has removed this goal from its strategic plan. See letter from Undersecretary to Secretary. 2. CalVet has entered into a sharing agreement with the USDVA to serve homeless veterans on the WLA home as part of the Transitional Housing Program. As part of this partnership, USDVA will evaluate homeless veterans and make a placement at CalVet, Salvation Army Haven or New Directions. Therefore, CalVet will work within this new framework to accept veterans who successfully complete the programs in Salvation Army Haven or New Directions and are placed by USDVA.

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

6-Month Agency Response

CalVet is analyzing a formal process for identifying Public, Private, Partnerships and evaluating their value to serving more veterans. For example, CalVet initiated a budget change proposal to convert 84 SNF beds into domiciliary beds targeted towards the neediest veterans. The proposal was approved as part of FY 13-14 May revise. Subsequent to that, CalVet partnered with USDVA to fill the beds through a sharing agreements and an MOU. This new partnership enables CalVet to use what would have been unbudgeted space to serve more veterans.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

Updated matrix developed with recommended fields. Formal process being developed.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented

All Recommendations in 2012-119

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.