Report 2013-110 Recommendation 1 Responses

Report 2013-110: Child Welfare Services: The County Child Welfare Services Agencies We Reviewed Must Provide Better Protection for Abused and Neglected Children (Release Date: April 2014)

Recommendation #1 To: Butte County Department of Employment and Social Services

To ensure that referral response decisions are accurate, the Butte County CWS agency should develop policies requiring a supervisory review of the hotline tool and a monitoring system to ensure that supervisory reviews are completed.

1-Year Agency Response

Butte County revised the Structured Decision Making (SDM) Policy and Procedure (No. CSD-05-04), effective September 24, 2014, to provide clear guidelines regarding supervisory review requirements and the Quality Assurance review monitoring process. Training regarding the new Policy and Procedure was provided to Child Welfare staff and Supervisors at the October 2, 2014 Program Meeting. Supporting documentation was submitted as part of the six-month review.

Butte County revised the Intake Policy and Procedure (No. CSD-14-21) which also addresses these issues. Training was provided to Child Welfare staff and supervisors at the November 6, 2014 Program Meeting.

Copies of the November 6, 2014 Program Meeting agenda and the revised Intake Policy and Procedure (No. CSD-14-21) is attached.

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

6-Month Agency Response

At this time, there is no functionality in the Structured Decision Making (SDM) Hotline Tool for supervisor approval. However, the supervisor does review the outcome of the hotline tool in case staffing meetings, in reviewing the referral intake form (which includes SDM hotline tool outcome information) and in the RED Team during referral reviews, and at the time the referral is approved in CWS/CMS.

Butte County revised the Structured Decision Making (SDM) Policy and Procedure (No. CSD-05-04), effective September 25, 2014, to provide clear guidelines regarding supervisory review requirements and the Quality Assurance review monitoring process. Training regarding the new Policy and Procedure was provided to Child Welfare staff and Supervisors at the October 2, 2014 Program Meeting.

Copies of the October 2, 2014 Program Meeting agenda and the revised SDM Policy and Procedure No. CSD-05-04 is attached.

A new Intake Policy and Procedure is under development which will also address these issues. This policy will be completed and staff trained by December 31, 2014.

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

60-Day Agency Response

At this time, there is no functionality in the Structured Decision Making (SDM) Hotline Tool for supervisor approval. However, the supervisor does review the outcome of the hotline tool in case staffing meetings, in reviewing the referral intake form (which includes SDM hotline tool outcome information) and in the RED (Review-Evaluate-Direct) Team during referral reviews, and at the time the referral is approved in CWS/CMS.

Butte County will include the supervisory review process in the intake policy and procedure. Butte County has identified an interim team consisting of a Program Manager, two Administrative Analysts and the staff trainer to update policies and procedures, pending new staff to be hired for this function, anticipated to be hired by September 2014. This will include one Administrative Analyst position that will be responsible for the oversight, development and review of all Policies and Procedures for Child Welfare. This policy and procedure is in the process of being updated, but is not yet complete.

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

All Recommendations in 2013-110

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.