Report 2013-110 Recommendation 25 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 #25 To: Butte County Department of Employment and Social Services

To help strengthen safety plans to effectively mitigate safety threats, the Butte County CWS agency should ensure that supervisors are reviewing and approving all safety plans.

1-Year Agency Response

The Butte County - Safety Plan Field Sheet was revised 5-27-2014, updated to include the review and signature of the supervisor, which and was submitted as part of the 60 Day Audit Response.

Butte County revised the Structured Decision Making (SDM) Policy and Procedure (No. CSD-05-04), and the Investigations (IR/ER) Policy and Procedure (No. CSD-14-20), to provide clear guidelines regarding the supervisory review of all safety assessments in a timely manner and verify that a written safety plan signed by the responsible parties accompanies any assessments designating the need for a safety plan. Training regarding the new Policy and Procedure was provided to Child Welfare staff and Supervisors at the October 2, 2014 Program Meeting and the supporting documents were submitted as part of the six-month review.

Due to new state requirements regarding the CFSR Review Process (implemented following the Audit), Butte County adjusted staffing requirements for the new CQI Unit. Two new QA Staff positions were authorized by the Butte County Board of Supervisors on March 23, 2015, and the hiring process has been initiated. It is anticipated that full staffing for the CQI Unit will be in place by June 15, 2015. The QA Policy and Procedure (No. CSD-14-21) has been completed and approved, effective April 1, 2015, and training of supervisory staff has been completed. Policy will be submitted.

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

6-Month Agency Response

See attached Butte County - Safety Plan Field Sheet, revised 5-27-14, updated to include the review and signature of the supervisor. Next step is to incorporate the changed form and new expectation into policy regarding safety assessments.

Butte County revised the Structured Decision Making (SDM) Policy and Procedure (No. CSD-05-04), and the Investigations (IR/ER) Policy and Procedure (No. CSD-14-20) to provide clear guidance regarding the supervisory review of all safety assessments in a timely manner and verify that a written safety plan signed by the responsible parties accompanies any assessments designating the need for a safety plan. Training regarding the new Policy and Procedures were 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 and the revised Investigations Policy and Procedure No. No. CSD-14-20 are attached.

A new Quality Assurance Policy and Procedure is under development which will also address these issues. This policy will be completed by January 31, 2015.

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

60-Day Agency Response

The Butte County Safety Plan Field Sheet, revised 5-27-14, was updated to include the supervisor review and signature line. Next step is to incorporate the changed form and new expectation into policy regarding safety assessments.

The revised Butte County - Safety Plan Field Sheet has been submitted as part of this report.

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

All Recommendations in 2013-110

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.