Report 2018-126 Recommendation 2 Responses
Report 2018-126: Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services: It Has Not Adequately Ensured the Health and Safety of All Children in Its Care (Release Date: May 2019)
Recommendation #2 To: Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services
To ensure that it protects children by completing investigations, assessments, home inspections, and background checks in a timely manner, by November 2019 the department should establish thresholds for the number of days that will trigger follow-up from the department's various levels of management.
60-Day Agency Response
On March 22, 2019, the Department issued a memorandum on Emergency Response (ER) Investigations and outlined an Escalation Plan to address the timely closure of ER referrals. The Escalation Plan notes what courses of action to take at the 21st, 45th, and 60th day of open investigations and instructs managers to develop work plans at each phase to target safe dispositions and closure. The Escalation Plan also provides different strategies to employ when closing outstanding referrals.
On May 29, 2019, the Department issued a For Your Information (FYI) bulletin titled "Timely Submission and Approval of Structured Decision Making (SDM) Tools" delineating due dates for completing and approving various SDM assessment tools for Children's Social Workers (CSWs) and Supervising Children's Social Workers (SCSWs).
On June 24, 2019, the Department released a foundational policy on SDM with thorough guidelines on how and when to conduct and complete the different SDM assessments. The policy provides specific procedural instructions and outlines the required submission/approval timelines for each assessment.
Based on the thresholds established in the Escalation Plan and the SDM procedural guides, the Department's s BIS division is developing appropriate management tracking reports and email alerts to ensure that timely investigations and accurate assessments are completed.
- Estimated Completion Date: November 2019
- Response Date: July 2019
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Fully Implemented
The department provided the referenced documents demonstrating that it established the thresholds specified in the recommendation.
All Recommendations in 2018-126
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.