Report 2011-129 Recommendation 7 Responses

Report 2011-129: Juvenile Justice Realignment: Limited Information Prevents a Meaningful Assessment of Realignment's Effectiveness (Release Date: September 2012)

Recommendation #7 To: Justice, Department of

To ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data the counties submit into the Juvenile Court and Probation Statistical System (JCPSS), Justice should follow its procedure to send annual summaries of the JCPSS data to the counties for review and to conduct occasional field audits of the counties' records.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2014

Summaries for the calendar year 2013 data were sent out on March 25, 2014 to all 58 counties and responses from the 56 counties participating in JCPSS affirmed their data by mid-April 2014. (Del Norte and Sierra Counties do not submit data to JCPSS.)

In early May 2014, the DOJ's Criminal Justice Statistics Center (CJSC), in conjunction with the CPOC's Training Committee, developed an audit questionnaire related to JCPSS data entry.

In mid-May 2014, the DOJ's Client Services Program, which conducts audits on behalf of the Department's various Programs, performed a desk audit of 10 randomly selected probation departments using the audit questionnaire in order to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data being submitted into the JCPSS. As a result, all probation departments completed and returned the audit questionnaire with only one probation department answering one of the audit questions incorrectly. Consequently, the CJSC contacted this particular probation department via telephone regarding this error and has provided training to ensure their data entry into JCPSS is correct.

DOJ will perform a desk audit of an additional 10 randomly selected probation departments in November 2014 to meet the semi-annual commitment discussed in DOJ's November 20, 2013 response. Subsequently, DOJ will address and resolve any outstanding issues identified via the audit.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Resolved

Although the Department of Justice (Justice) is not conducting field audits of counties' records, we consider this recommendation to be resolved because Justice is performing desk audits. Desk audits should result in identifying potential errors in counties' data.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2013

DOJ will continue to provide annual summary JCPSS data to counties in March of each year for their review and to obtain confirmation from each county that the summary accurately reflects the data submitted by that county for the year. If a county does not agree with the summary data provided by DOJ, the county corrects the data and resubmits it with a written confirmation.

Summaries for the calendar year 2012 data were sent out on March 19, 2013, and responses from all 56 counties participating in JCPSS affirmed their data by mid-April 2013. (Del Norte and Humboldt Counties do not submit data to JCPSS.)

Starting in January 2014, the DOJ will conduct semi-annual field audits of probation departments. DOJ staff will analyze data submitted by counties to assess the quality and completeness of the data. The analysis will be reviewed by supervisory/management staff, who will determine which counties will be audited. In addition, the DOJ will reach out to the training committee of the Chief Probation Officers of California (CPOC) to obtain assistance in auditing juvenile probation information and to identify areas of training that DOJ can provide to CPOC to further ensure integrity in the data.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Not Fully Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

When DOJ revised its JCPSS Manual, it implemented comprehensive edits and conditional checks on the data submitted by counties as a way of verifying the data while saving the State money in terms of additional resources and travel costs.

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

Although Justice revised the JCPSS manual, it eliminated the requirement for it to conduct field audits on JCPSS data. By deleting this procedure, it is clear that Justice does not intend to take appropriate action to proactively address the issues we found with JCPSS data.

6-Month Agency Response

Justice revised its JCPSS manual to include a requirement for staff to conduct comprehensive edits and conditional checks on the data submitted by counties. The revised manual also includes a description of the year-end process for assuring the accuracy of the information submitted by probation departments.

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

Although Justice revised the JCPSS manual, it eliminated the requirement for it to conduct field audits on JCPSS data. By deleting this procedure, it is clear that Justice does not intend to take appropriate action to proactively address the issues we found with JCPSS data.

60-Day Agency Response

Justice indicated that it revised its JCPSS manual to include a description of the year-end process for assuring the accuracy of the information submitted by probation departments. The policy will require probation departments to provide written confirmation of receipt of the summary reports and to notify Justice if the probation departments detect any discrepancies. However, Justice also stated that it eliminated the requirement for it to conduct field audits on JCPSS data but provided no alternative procedure. By deleting this procedure, it is clear that Justice does not intend to take appropriate action to proactively address the issues we found with JCPSS data. (See 2013-406, p. 231)

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

All Recommendations in 2011-129

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.