Report 2013-110 Recommendation 3 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 #3 To: Orange County Social Services Agency

To ensure that referral response decisions are accurate, the Orange County CWS agency should ensure that all intake supervisors are trained on the use of the hotline tool and that they are regularly reviewing their staffs use of this tool.

1-Year Agency Response

Structured Decision Making (SDM) Hotline tool training is provided on an annual basis to all Child Abuse Registry (CAR) staff. This training was last provided to all CAR staff July 2014.

The CAR manager reviewed CAR Policy and Procedure (P&P) Number M-0109 and relevant California Department of Social Services Division 31 regulations with all CAR supervisors on June 4, 2014. CAR supervisors reviewed the CAR P&P and regulations with each CAR social worker during individual conferences, June and July 2014.

Social Services Agency (SSA) fine-tuned its system to ensure accurate completion of the Hotline tool and documentation of supervisory oversight. Effective May 2014, CAR social workers began printing hard copies of completed Hotline tools, which supervisors are required to review for accuracy. In May 2014, a tracking tool was developed which requires supervisors to document the date on which the Hotline tool was reviewed and approved.

SSA revised the CAR P&P to incorporate the increased oversight practices of the Hotline tool. The revised P&P was finalized and published July 16, 2014. All CAR supervisors and social workers were trained on the revised policy.

SSA developed a CAR/Hotline audit tool. This tool is used by supervisors, managers, and the Quality Support Team (QST) to monitor Hotline tool usage and supervisory oversight. The CAR manager and supervisors completed reviews using the CAR/Hotline audit tool, January 2015. QST completed two audits of CAR (August 2014 and February 2015).

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

The Orange County CWS agency (agency) fully implemented this recommendation.The agency trained intake supervisors on the use of the hotline tool and now requires supervisors to approve the hotline tool. In addition, the agency developed a review tool which supervisors, managers, and quality support team staff use to monitor Hotline tool usage and supervisory oversight.

6-Month Agency Response

The Structured Decision Making (SDM) hotline tool training is provided on an annual basis to all Child Abuse Registry (CAR) staff. This training was last provided to all CAR staff in July 2014.

The CAR manager reviewed the CAR Policy and Procedure (P&P) Number M-0109 and relevant California Department of Social Services Division 31 regulations with all CAR supervisors on June 4, 2014. CAR supervisors reviewed the CAR P&P and Division 31 Regulations with each CAR social worker during their individual conferences in June and July 2014.

Orange County SSA fine-tuned its system to ensure accurate completion of the hotline tool and documentation of supervisory oversight. Effective May 14, 2014, CAR social workers began printing out hard copies of completed hotline tools, which supervisors are required to review for accuracy. In addition, a tracking tool was developed which requires supervisors to verify the date on which the hotline tool was reviewed and approved. This practice was implemented on May 22, 2014.

SSA revised the CAR P&P Number M-0109 to incorporate the newly implemented oversight practices of the hotline tool. The revised P&P was finalized and published on July 16, 2014.

SSA has developed a CAR/hotline audit tool. This tool is used by supervisors, managers, and the Quality Support Team (QST) to monitor hotline tool usage and supervisory oversight.

QST began its first audit to monitor hotline tool usage and supervisory oversight in August 2014. A second audit is scheduled for February 2015.

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

60-Day Agency Response

The Structured Decision Making (SDM) hotline tool training is provided on an annual basis to all Child Abuse Registry (CAR) staff. The next training is scheduled for July 2014. The CAR manager reviewed the CAR Policy and Procedure (P&P) Number M-0109 and relevant California Department of Social Services Division 31 regulations with CAR supervisors on June 4, 2014. All CAR supervisors will review and discuss the CAR P&P and Division 31 Regulations with all CAR social workers during their individual conferences in the month of June 2014.

Orange County SSA fine-tuned its system to ensure accurate completion of the hotline tool and documentation of supervisory oversight. CAR social workers now print hard copies of completed hotline tools, which supervisors are required to review for accuracy. This became effective on May 14, 2014. In addition, a tracking tool was developed which requires supervisors to verify the date in which the hotline tool was reviewed and approved. This practice was implemented on May 22, 2014.

Orange County SSA has developed a CAR/hotline audit tool that is close to being finalized. This tool will be used by supervisors, managers, and the Quality Support Team (QST) to monitor hotline tool usage and supervisory oversight. It is anticipated that it will be ready for use by the end of June 2014.

QST will complete semi-annual audits in August 2014 and February 2015 to monitor hotline tool usage and supervisory oversight.

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

All Recommendations in 2013-110

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.