Report 2016-128 Recommendation 4 Responses

Report 2016-128: In‑Home Supportive Services: The State Could Do More to Help Providers Avoid Future Payment Delays (Release Date: March 2017)

Recommendation #4 To: Social Services, Department of

To assist counties in resolving exceptions efficiently and in managing their workload, Social Services should by December 2017 develop a timesheet exceptions report in CMIPS II that enables county staff to categorize common exceptions, identify providers with recurring exceptions, and track timesheet processing workload over a period of time. Social Services should also train county staff on the most effective use of these reports.

1-Year Agency Response

As described in Recommendations 1 and 8, in December 2017, CDSS APD auditor began conducting monthly reviews of timesheet exceptions data to ensure counties are resolving timesheet exceptions in a timely manner. See Attachments A and B diagramming the process flow and procedures, and Attachment D for a sample report provided to CDSS management.

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

In its six-month response, Social Services described various steps it was undertaking to provide guidance and direction to counties on resolving timesheet exceptions. However, in this one-year response, Social Services indicates that its own staff are performing monthly reviews of timesheet exceptions, informing the counties of those exceptions, and working with the counties to address the exceptions. Although this approach differs from our recommendation of empowering the counties to use the exception reports, it appears to be yielding a similar desired result of educating the counties on identifying and resolving common exceptions.

6-Month Agency Response

CDSS released All County Letter (ACL) 17-48 on May 31, 2017, providing direction to counties regarding the resolution of timesheet exceptions and provided guidance on the utilization of the existing Timesheet Exceptions Report (see Attachment C). As previously communicated, CDSS will be conducting quarterly assessments to ensure counties are resolving timesheet exceptions in a timely manner (see Attachments A and B diagraming the process flow).

Additionally, CDSS submitted change requests to the CMIPS II vendor to modify existing data download files to include detailed timesheet and timesheet exception data. These data download files are expected to be released to the counties by October 2017. CDSS will be scheduling webinar trainings for county users in October 2017 to assist them in the tracking and resolution of timesheet exceptions.

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

60-Day Agency Response

As noted in the CDSS response to Recommendation 1, CDSS released a draft All County Letter (ACL) in January 2017 to the counties providing guidance on the utilization of the existing Timesheet Exceptions Report. The final ACL will also communicate that CDSS will monitor the counties activities on a quarterly basis to ensure timely resolution is occurring. The final ACL will be released by the end of May 2017 (see Attachment A).

Additionally, CDSS submitted change requests to the CMIPS II vendor to modify existing data download files to include detailed timesheet and timesheet exception data. These data download files are provided to counties to assist them in the tracking and resolution of timesheet exceptions. This change is scheduled to be implemented September 2017.

CDSS is developing and will provide counties with training on use of both the timesheet exception report and the data download by December 2017.

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

All Recommendations in 2016-128

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.