Report 2013-110 Recommendation 30 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 #30 To: San Francisco Human Services Agency, City and County of

As part of its responsibility to help children remain safe at all points during the investigation of a referral, the San Francisco County CWS agency should vet temporary living situations and caregivers to the extent allowable under the law, including a review of information contained within the statewide CWS database.

1-Year Agency Response

Policy: The Criminal Clearance & Exemptions for Substitute Care Providers (SCP) and Informal Family Arrangements Policy and Desk Guide were completed and published to staff on 11/14/2014. The policy states that: When no dependency petition is pursued, and in the event that a family makes their own informal family arrangement, the PSW will perform a criminal/child abuse background check on the caregiver and all adults residing in the residence.

The Criminal Clearance & Exemptions for Substitute Care Providers (SCP) and Informal Family Arrangements section of the Desk Guide provides detailed instructions for vetting temporary living situations and caregivers in emergency and non emergency situations. Relevant sections in the ER/AF and ER policies provide further instructions for vetting temporary living situations and caregivers.

- See Supporting Documentation.

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

6-Month Agency Response

The policy and desk guide specifying how staff is to vet temporary living situations and caregivers, is in its final draft and should be out by the end of October, 2014.

Once completed, the new policy and desk guides will be reviewed with all staff. CQI will then monitor for worker and supervisory compliance with the new guidelines.

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

60-Day Agency Response

To date we have hired a Policy Supervisor who will develop policies and procedures requiring supervisory review of the hotline tool. The supervisor will come on board June 9, 2014. Additionally, we are in the process of redirecting 5 Protective Services Worker (PSW) positions to the Policy unit. We expect to have them on board by July 21, 2014.

Once the Policy Unit is established it will develop policies and procedures regarding requirements for ensuring child safety when making temporary living arrangements, as well as define and establish supervisory and worker expectations.

We are waiting for approval to hire 6 Q.A. staff including 1 supervisor and 5 analysts to ensure compliance with new policies. Once established, Q.A. will institute quarterly case reviews to ensure that arrangements are done in accordance with the law and perform random quarterly reviews to make certain that staff and supervisors are adhering to the policies.

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

All Recommendations in 2013-110

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.