2015-041 - Status of Recommendations - Table 4

3. To ensure that they comply with the Clery Act by correctly reporting all applicable crimes and disclosing all required campus security policies, institutions should review and adhere to applicable guidance related to the Clery Act, including Education's Office of Postsecondary Education's (OPE) Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting (OPE handbook) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook.

9. To ensure that they comply with the Clery Act by correctly reporting all applicable crimes and disclosing all required campus security policies, institutions should thoroughly review the Clery Act crime statistics and security policy disclosures in their annual security reports for accuracy before publication.

7. To ensure that grant recipients comply with state law concerning interest earned on mitigation grant funds, by June 2014, the Butte County benefit committee should establish policies and procedures to verify that grant recipients have placed grant awards in interest-bearing accounts, and that the interest is spent only on activities that mitigate the effect of tribal gaming on local jurisdictions.

19. To ensure that the benefit committee members and other designated individuals comply with reform act requirements for filing statements of economic interests, after Butte County's benefit committee has appointed a filing officer, the filing officer should attend FPPC training and notify designated individuals of their responsibility to submit statements of economic interests and follow up with those who fail to file.

2. To be better informed about the compensation of their consultants, including any potential conflicts of interest, California Communities and Municipal Finance should require the consulting firms that staff their organizations to disclose the amount and structure of compensation provided to individual consultants, including disclosing whether any of this compensation is tied to the volume of bond sales.

4. In implementing its January 2012 contracting policy, California Communities should either periodically subject existing contracts to competitive bidding or perform some other price comparison analysis to ensure that the public funds it oversees are used effectively.

7. To show water customers that they are attempting to keep rates reasonable, the California Water Service Company should maintain documentation to demonstrate any cost savings expected or achieved as a result of its cost-saving efforts.

4. To increase accountability and transparency in its governance, the city should develop a formal policy that describes the circumstances under which revenues can be transferred from its power department, and the limits and permissible uses of transferred revenue.

9. To ensure that it develops complete and appropriate personnel policies and procedures, the new human resources director should ensure that the city's policies and procedures include, at a minimum, an improved methodology for and analysis of future salary surveys, ensuring that they are performed by staff or a consultant with experience and expertise in the area of salary surveys.

11. To ensure accurate reporting and payment of retirement benefits, the city should work with California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) to resolve the reported findings and observation noted in CalPERS April 2012 audit report within a reasonable period of time.

16. To better control contract expenditures and ensure that it receives the best value for the services it purchases, the city should require that all contracts contain a well-defined scope of work and deliverables that a sufficiently detailed invoice can be measured against.

20. To the extent that the city implements policies that affect contracts, the city should also ensure that it reviews all current contracts and amends them, if necessary, to comply with newly established policies.

27. To address the structural deficit in its general fund, the city should seek long-term solutions to balance the general fund's expenditures and revenues and lessen its reliance on transfers from other city funds. These solutions could include revenue increases, such as the proposed increased and new parcel tax, as well as looking for ways to reduce expenditures.

28. The city should clearly present the general fund structural deficit to the city council and the public in a budget that includes narrative and summary information to help users understand the city's budget process and its priorities and challenges, and that incorporates the elements for improved budgeting practices recommended by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA).

34. To ensure that it can demonstrate sufficient analysis and provide justification for its decisions on significant energy-related transactions, the city should develop an integrated energy strategy that examines all elements of its energy needs, sources, and objectives.

35. To ensure that it can demonstrate sufficient analysis and provide justification for its decisions on significant energy-related transactions, the city should create a formal process and guidelines that include the following: identifying the benefits and risks of proposed transactions, quantifying the benefits and risks of proposed transactions, evaluating and comparing proposed transactions against alternative proposals, quantifying the impact of proposed transactions on short-term and long-term rates paid by the city's energy customers, seeking an independent validation of the fair market value of proposed transactions, and documenting and communicating the findings of the evaluation process to the city council.

38. To ensure that any future decisions to enter into interest rate swaps are carefully considered, the city should develop and follow a process that thoroughly analyzes the risks and benefits of the potential swap transaction.

39. To ensure that any future decisions to enter into interest rate swaps are carefully considered, the city should specifically disallow the use of derivatives for speculative purposes and should require the retention of the documents and analyses that support the decision to enter into the swap.

2. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

2. To ensure that child abuse and neglect allegations receive timely resolution, the department should assess whether it needs to permanently allocate more resources to investigate allegations of child abuse and neglect.

4. To ensure that it is placing children only in safe homes, the department should measure its performance and adjust its practices to adhere to state law, which requires that all homes be assessed prior to the placement of the child.

5. To improve its process for placing children with a relative, the department should analyze the best practices used by other county child welfare services agencies for such placements. The department should then implement changes in its practices so that relatives and their homes are approved prior to placement, as required by state law.

9. To determine the adequacy and effectiveness of the helicopter services it provides to residents of underserved areas who suffer a trauma injury, EMS should collect, assess, and report accurate and complete data on the following: the number of cancelled flights in each of these underserved areas, including the method of transportation used instead of helicopters and the transport times and trauma patient outcomes.

5. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Los Angeles Unified should ensure that school sites evaluate the effectiveness of the programs they choose to implement.

6. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Los Angeles Unified should resolve complaints within 60 calendar days regardless of the complaint process selected.

1. To determine whether its trauma system is appropriately designed and serving the needs of residents in underserved areas and the needs of the most at-risk populations, the board should use Measure B funds to engage the College of Surgeons by July 2014 to perform a comprehensive assessment of the trauma system and then make the results available to the public. To the extent the assessment identifies weaknesses in the trauma system, the board should develop strategies to address those weaknesses where feasible. Specifically, the board should ask the College of Surgeons to do the following: assist the board in better defining and identifying underserved areas in Los Angeles.

2. To determine whether its trauma system is appropriately designed and serving the needs of residents in underserved areas and the needs of the most at-risk populations, the board should use Measure B funds to engage the College of Surgeons by July 2014 to perform a comprehensive assessment of the trauma system and then make the results available to the public. To the extent the assessment identifies weaknesses in the trauma system, the board should develop strategies to address those weaknesses where feasible. Specifically, the board should ask the College of Surgeons to do the following: review Measure B allocations to ensure that they are addressing the most pressing needs of at-risk populations in Los Angeles.

3. To determine whether its trauma system is appropriately designed and serving the needs of residents in underserved areas and the needs of the most at-risk populations, the board should use Measure B funds to engage the College of Surgeons by July 2014 to perform a comprehensive assessment of the trauma system and then make the results available to the public. To the extent the assessment identifies weaknesses in the trauma system, the board should develop strategies to address those weaknesses where feasible. Specifically, the board should ask the College of Surgeons to do the following: assess the adequacy of helicopter services it provides in underserved areas.

4. To determine whether its trauma system is appropriately designed and serving the needs of residents in underserved areas and the needs of the most at-risk populations, the board should use Measure B funds to engage the College of Surgeons by July 2014 to perform a comprehensive assessment of the trauma system and then make the results available to the public. To the extent the assessment identifies weaknesses in the trauma system, the board should develop strategies to address those weaknesses where feasible. Specifically, the board should ask the College of Surgeons to do the following: analyze how EMS might better use the data it collects to evaluate, improve, and report continuously on its trauma system.

5. To ensure that it allocates Measure B funds to address the most significant needs of residents within its trauma system, the board should reinstate a Measure B oversight committee, with participation from departments with trauma, EMS, and bioterrorism preparedness expertise, as well as representatives of the public. The oversight committee should review trauma system and other county needs annually and advise the board on Measure B expenditures. As part of its responsibilities, the oversight committee should reevaluate the Measure B allocation approach, taking into consideration the results of Los Angeles's comprehensive assessment and the effects of the Act, and issue a report on its findings no later than December 2015.

10. Los Angeles should undertake formal discussions with Pomona's management regarding the hospital becoming a trauma center. In doing so, Los Angeles should analyze its current Measure B allocations to determine whether financial opportunities exist that would meet the needs of Pomona and present the resulting analysis to Pomona. Further, it should document its efforts and the resulting outcome so that both voters and taxpayers are aware of the diligence Los Angeles has undertaken in fulfilling the spirit of Measure B.

34. With regard to excess net cash resources, Local Education Agencies should develop a spending plan to eliminate their net cash resources in excess of the amount allowed by June 30, 2014.

38. With regard to excess net cash resources, Local Education Agencies should submit a spending plan to CDE for approval by June 30, 2014.

1. To ensure that water customers are able to have an understanding of how rate increases are determined, Quartz Hill Water District should include information in its public notices providing reasonably sufficient details of the basis of its fee methodology.

5. To ensure that water customers are aware of pass-through rate increases, Quartz Hill Water District should adopt a schedule of fees showing how these increases will affect its tiered usage charges before the new rates take effect.

6. To ensure that its water customers have access to Quartz Hill Water District's rate methodology and other factors that help it determine rate increases, the utility should keep all documentation it uses to calculate or otherwise explain the need for rate increases for as long as the rate increases are in effect.

13. To assist low-income water customers, Quartz Hill water District should work with its governing body to consider the feasibility of using revenues from sources other than water rates to implement rate assistance programs for low-income water customers.

3. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

3. To comply with state law, benefit committees should ensure that they obtain sufficient documentation from grant applicants to demonstrate that proposed projects mitigate casino impacts. If applicable, that documentation should demonstrate that the requested funding represents a correct proportionate share of the costs attributable to casino impacts.

8. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should ensure that school site staff complete the training required under its anti-bullying policy.

10. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should measure the effectiveness of its school safety programs at both the district and school site levels.

13. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should update its policies and procedures to calculate the state-mandated time limit for resolving complaints in accordance with state regulations.

15. To ensure that it is effectively preventing and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying in its schools, Sacramento City Unified should ensure that school sites follow the complaint procedures established in its policies.

5. To help reduce its operating costs and improve its overall financial situation, the Health Care System should continue to try to modify its employee benefits, such as paid time off, so they are aligned with industry practice.

4. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

10. If San Diego County's benefit committee believes that its processes for distributing grant funds are vital to its effective management of distribution fund grants, it should seek legislative authority to change its process. Otherwise, San Diego County's benefit committee should refrain from placing limits on the time available for grant recipients to spend the grant funds.

6. To ensure that the statewide case management system contains accurate and complete information for each referral, the San Francisco County CWS agency should update its policies or otherwise provide clear guidance to social workers about the importance of ensuring that all alleged perpetrators, victims, and types of maltreatment are accurately recorded upon intake.

8. To ensure that social workers are making reasonable and timely efforts to make in-person contact with children who are allegedly being maltreated, the San Francisco County CWS agency should develop clear policies for how frequently social workers must follow up with alleged victims in the event that initial attempts at contact are unsuccessful.

10. To ensure that social workers are making reasonable and timely efforts to make in-person contact with children who are allegedly being maltreated, the San Francisco County CWS agency should develop clear policies about the method and duration of social workers attempts at making contact with hard-to-reach families, and clearly state under what circumstances a referral may be closed for lack of contact.

34. To improve its coordination and communication with local law enforcement, the San Francisco County CWS agency should consider entering into a memorandum of understanding with the applicable law enforcement agency that delineates how the two agencies will share information and assist each other in responding to child maltreatment.

5. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

21. Santa Clara County should ensure that all MHSA invoices are adequately supported with information that demonstrates that MHSA services were provided.

6. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should require that the county auditor review each grant application to ensure a rigorous analysis of a casino's impact and of the proportion of funding for the project provided by the grant. Benefit committees should consider a grant application only when the county auditor certifies that the applicant has quantified the impact of the casino and verifies that the grant funds requested will be proportional to the casino's impact.

30. To help ensure that they meet the grant requirements established in the Government Code, counties should ensure that benefit committees' conflict-of-interest codes comply with the political reform act by reviewing the act and their codes, and changing the codes as necessary to meet the act's requirements.