Report 2015-112 Recommendation 26 Responses

Report 2015-112: Student Mental Health Services: Some Students' Services Were Affected by a New State Law, and the State Needs to Analyze Student Outcomes and Track Service Costs (Release Date: January 2016)

Recommendation #26 To: Riverside County SELPA

To ensure that it can demonstrate that the contracted personnel who provide mental health services are qualified, Riverside should annually obtain and retain copies of contractor personnel lists and the credentials or licenses for personnel who provide mental health services to students in the SELPA.

6-Month Agency Response

Riverside County SELPA has created a tracking sheet to monitor the credentials, licenses, and staffing changes at non-public schools and residential treatment facilities. Evidence supporting the full implementation of this item includes spreadsheet documenting the following information relevant to the monitoring of credentials, licenses, and staffing: date received, date logged, vendor, employee name, hire date, termination date, position, DOJ clearance, TB clearance, full or part time status, contract status, credential and/or license issuing state, credential and/or license document number, credential and/or license issue date, and credential and/or license expiration date. This spreadsheet will be kept current on a weekly basis. Evidence supporting the full implementation of this item includes the current spreadsheet documenting current status of credentials and licenses of all individuals working at non-public schools and residential treatment facilities that currently service students from RC SELPA LEAs sent under separate cover to bobh@auditor.ca.gov. Additional evidence includes sample correspondence between NPS/RTFs and RC SELPA regarding ongoing staffing changes.

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

60-Day Agency Response

The SELPA historically relied on the California Department of Education to track licenses and credentials of nonpublic schools and agencies as required under Education Code. We did maintain a spreadsheet and verification of license or credential from https://www.breeze.ca.gov/datamart, www.ctc.ca.gov and/or www.speechandhearing.ca.gov. We instituted a process to collect actual licenses and credentials from the nonpublic schools and agencies, with ongoing notice and monitoring of personnel changes provided to the SELPA as well as to CDE. Evidence includes master contract, NPS Procedures, and monthly staffing update form.

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

Riverside is still in the process of collecting all applicable licenses and credentials from its contracted staff. Therefore, this recommendation is partially implemented.

All Recommendations in 2015-112

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.