2024-108 Alameda County Department of Children and Family Services
Delayed Investigations and Support Services Risk the Health and Safety of Youth
Published: September 23, 2025
Audit Recommendations Disclosure
When an audit is completed and a report is issued, auditees must provide the State Auditor with information regarding their progress in implementing recommendations from our reports at three intervals from the release of the report: 60 days, six months, and one year. Additionally, Senate Bill 1452 (Chapter 452, Statutes of 2006), requires auditees who have not implemented recommendations after one year, to report to us and to the Legislature why they have not implemented them or to state when they intend to implement them. Below is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced and a link to the most recent response from the auditee addressing their progress in implementing the recommendation and the State Auditor’s assessment of auditee’s response based on our review of the supporting documentation.
Recommendations to Alameda County Department of Children and Family Services
Recommendation 1
To ensure that it timely initiates and completes investigations of all immediate and non-immediate referrals, the department should, by January 2026, ensure that all supervisors review and approve investigation reports in a timely manner to ensure that they agree with the disposition.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Sept. 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
The department has ensured that Child Welfare Supervisors have reviewed and engaged in additional training on closing referrals in a timely manner. The department is engaging in a formal meet and discuss with the supervisors labor union, to set agreed time frames for case closure.
6-Month Agency Response
The Department has ensured that Child Welfare Supervisors have reviewed and engaged in additional trainings on closing referrals in a timely manner. The Department is currently in a Meet and Confer process with PACE (Child Welfare Supervisors) union reunion regarding standards of supervisory case closure. This process began January 12, 2026.
Recommendation 2
To ensure that it timely initiates and completes investigations of all immediate and non-immediate referrals, the department should, by January 2026, periodically review the status of all referrals to determine the number of days to initiate and complete investigations and work with staff to identify impediments to initiating and completing investigations within the required time.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Sept. 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
The Department continues to bring on additional staff to assist with Emergency Response Investigations. Additionally the Department has:
- Trained Emergency Response Supervisors on the utilization of Safe Measures to monitor the status of referrals in their unit. Completed September 2025.
- Program Managers are now monitoring utilization of Safe Measures by their staff and offering support as needed. Completed October 2025
- Emergency Response Supervisors to conduct regular supervision with staff.
6-Month Agency Response
The Department continues to bring on additional staff to assist with Emergency Response Investigations. Additionally the Department has:
Trained Emergency Response Supervisors on the utilization of Safe Measures to monitor the status of referrals in their unit. Completed September 2025.
Program Managers are now monitoring utilization of Safe Measures by their staff and offering support as needed. Completed October 2025
Emergency Response Supervisors to conduct regular supervision with staff.
The Department is currently in a Meet and Confer process with PACE (Child Welfare Supervisors Union) regarding monitoring staff regarding initiating and completing investigations timely. The Meet and Confer began January 12, 2026.
Recommendation 3
To ensure that it timely initiates and completes investigations of all immediate and non-immediate referrals, the department should, by January 2026, develop a strategy to address all identified impediments to ensure that it reduces the number of days for initiating and completing all investigations to comply with required time frames.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Sept. 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
The Department is doing the following:
- Implemented Dedicated time in July 2025, now closing 200 referrals per month.
- Utilizing Case Assistant Support to set up Investigation Narratives for Child Welfare Workers’ time when closing a referral. Ongoing
- Diverse Ideas Workgroup. Comprised of staff at all levels including Child Welfare workers. The group is currently exploring “pain points when cases are assigned.” Ongoing
- Trained Emergency Response Supervisors on the utilization of Safe Measures to monitor the status of referrals in their unit. Completed September 2025;
- Program Managers are now monitoring utilization of Safe Measures by their staff and offering support as needed. Completed October 2025.
- Exploring contract with San Diego State University for a review and recommendations to improve the Emergency Response Program.
6-Month Agency Response
The Department is doing the following:
Implemented Dedicated time in July 2025, now closing 200 referrals per month.
Utilizing Case Assistant Support to set up Investigation Narratives for Child Welfare Workers’ time when closing a referral. Ongoing
Diverse Ideas Workgroup. Comprised of staff at all levels including Child Welfare workers. The group is currently exploring “pain points when cases are assigned.” Workgroup identified time it took for a case to be assigned after a call came in from the hotline. Process was changed so the referral is assigned to the Child Welfare Supervisor for assignment to a Child Welfare Worker AND given to the Clerical Supervisor to assign to a clerical staff person for input into CWS/CMS. Process saves 4-6 hours.
Trained Emergency Response Supervisors on the utilization of Safe Measures to monitor the status of referrals in their unit. Completed September 2025;
Program Managers are now monitoring utilization of Safe Measures by their staff and offering support as needed. Completed October 2025.
Recommendation 4
To ensure that it has sufficient staff to provide timely investigations of child abuse and neglect referrals and the timely provision of foster care services, the department should do the following by October 2026, survey all staff to identify impediments to retention and recruitment of staff and develop an action plan to address the identified impediments.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
June 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
Team First Assessment of Safety Culture. Completed August 2025. Will be administered annually.
Disseminate survey results. Survey results were shared in September all staff meetings, email, and Department newsletter.
Present results to staff. Initial presentation are occurring for November 20-December 8. Additional presentations will continue in January 2026.
Conduct Follow Up Focus Groups. Gather additional information and ideas from staff.
Identify and Implement Improvement Plans.
6-Month Agency Response
All Department staff were surveyed in Summer of 2025. Survey results were shared with all staff in September of 2025 at All Staff Meetings, by email, and in the Department newsletter.
In December (2025), January (2026), and February (2026) findings were shared broadly by Division to get feedback from staff regarding their impressions of the audit and additional information.
In March (2026) focus groups were held with staff regarding the elements where there was high scoring on the survey. With the intention of building from their feedback to strengthen the culture of the Department. Staff requested additional focus group on elements not covered and those are currently being scheduled. An action will developed after giving staff additional time to provide their input via focus groups.
A follow up survey is scheduled for this summer.
Recommendation 5
To ensure that it has sufficient staff to provide timely investigations of child abuse and neglect referrals and the timely provision of foster care services, the department should do the following by October 2026, hire more staff in the CWW I classification, up to 50 percent of the total child welfare workers in the department’s ER Unit, as CDSS allows.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Ongoing
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
Continous hiring of the CWW I position, next exam scheduled for December 2025
Continuous hiring of the CWW II position, next exam scheduled for December 2025
Join the California Workforce Study to review if the duties of a child welfare worker position can be split. Study is showing positive results. Discussion with the Project Leaders scheduled for December 5, 2025
6-Month Agency Response
The Department continues to recruit to fill all vacancies for Child Welfare Staff. Hiring is continuous for both Bachelor and Master level staff. The Department had commercials through Comcast targeting those with required degrees in December of 2025. Following the commercials, the Agency did a month long social media campaign to seek potential candidates. The Agency continues to attend job fairs to encourage applicants to apply. The vacancy rate has declined to 25.4% in December of last year, down from a high of 35%.
This measure continues to be ongoing.
Recommendation 6
To ensure that it has sufficient staff to provide timely investigations of child abuse and neglect referrals and the timely provision of foster care services, the department should do the following by October 2026, make its shadowing process mandatory for new employees to reduce the time supervisors spend training new staff.
Agency response status:
Fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Nov. 2025
State Auditor assessment status:
Fully implemented
60-Day Agency Response
Shadowing is now mandatory for new staff. New workers are able to shadow a volunteer pool of seasoned workers.
New workers are able to shadow seasoned workers in the Case Assistant Programs, while they complete home visits.
Recommendation 7
To ensure that foster youth receive all necessary services within the prescribed or agreed-upon time frames, the department should create and implement policies and processes that include the following by October 2026:
- Documenting the service referral dates for all services.
- Documenting all service provision, including dates when a service was provided to foster youth through an interagency partner or a contractor.
- Reviewing and documenting, at least monthly during their visits with youth, whether youth receive services according to agreed-upon time frames and frequencies.
- Documenting all efforts to collaborate with interagency partners to ensure timely service delivery, including efforts to obtain documentation of needed services, time frames, and delivered services.
Agency response status:
Fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Nov. 2025
State Auditor assessment status:
Fully implemented
60-Day Agency Response
- Court report template enhanced for all reports to include the referral date of services to youth. Completed November 24, 2025
- Supervisors trained on new template and provided additional tools/checklists to share with staff. Completed November 6, 2025
- Revised policy on completion of contact notes. Completed October 2025
- Supervisors trained on new contact note policy on November 6, 2025
- Staff informed of new policies and provided templates, tools to support improved documentation. Completed on November 22, 2025.
Recommendation 8
To ensure that it has the necessary documentation to identify all services that partner agencies provide to youth and to ensure the timeliness of those services, the department should propose a change to the MOU to provide for information sharing. This information should include the types of services that youth are scheduled to receive, the dates the youth were referred for services, and when the services were provided to ensure timely and coordinated delivery of services.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
April 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
Language has been drafted to updated the MOU to include timelines for provision of services by mental health and Regional Center Providers. There is agreement in principal and it is anticipated the update will occur by December 31, 2025
Discussions have begun for an independent MOU with Regional Center of the East Bay for timely provision of services.
6-Month Agency Response
The Interagency Leadership Team has met several times to craft language to ensure the timeliness of service provision to update the AB 2083 MOU. The lanaguage has been agreed upon by all members of the Interagency Leadership Team. Before the MOU can be updated, the Department needs Board of Supervisor approval to do so. The board letter has been draften and is expected to go to the Board of Supervisors in April 2026.
Recommendation 9
To ensure that the department’s child welfare workers consistently and accurately identify, locate, and notify all possible relatives of a youth within 30 days of the youth’s removal from a caretaker, the department should develop policies and procedures for such practices by October 2026.
Agency response status:
Fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Sept. 2025
State Auditor assessment status:
Fully implemented
60-Day Agency Response
Child Welfare Workers and Clerical staff have been trained on the new relative notification process. Implementation began on September 29, 2025.
Recommendation 10
To ensure that foster youth fully benefit from their family network, the department should, by October 2026, include provisions for continued engagement with siblings and sibling relationship development and maintenance in its five-year System Improvement Plan for 2024 through 2029.
Agency response status:
Fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Jan. 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Fully implemented
60-Day Agency Response
The Department created a new strategy for System Improvement Plan involving sibling relationship and presented it to the California Department of Social Services. The additional strategy was approved by CDSS on November 17, 2025.
The new strategy goes to the Board of Supervisors on December 16, 2025 for final approval.
6-Month Agency Response
The Department created a new strategy for our System Improvement Plan involving sibling relationships and presented it to the California Depatment of Social Services. The new startegy was approved by the CDSS on November 17, 2025.
The updated System Improvement Plan was approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on December 16, 2025.
Recommendation 11
To ensure that it provides a safe space for foster children and youth in the new transitional shelter, the department should, by October 2026, develop policies and processes for tracking and minimizing overstays at its transitional shelter. The policies and processes should include a biannual review that analyzes trends and outcomes of strategies the department uses to minimize overstays, including a determination of the effectiveness and appropriateness of each strategy.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
June 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
The department has developed written polices and processes for performance evaluation and tracking trends in critical incidents for when it opens the new transitional shelter care facility. Specifically:
- Improve documentation by creating written protocols for all procedures at the Transitional Shelter Care Facility is complete.
- Explore placements with relatives/NREFMs as a first option, starting the process before child/youth arrival at the facility, whenever possible, and complete Emergency Resource Family Approval (RFA) placement within 72 hours is complete.
However, the Department is unable to provide a quarterly summary report of intake and overstay data to the AC Steering Committee and the AC Board.
Public Reasoning Behind State Auditor 60-Day Assessment
Although the department has created certain new templates and forms, and drafted policies for the new facility, these forms and policies have not yet been implemented because the new facility is not operational. As such, we will assess the department’s future responses to determine whether this recommendation has been fully implemented.
6-Month Agency Response
The Department has developed written policies and processes for performance evaluation and tracking trends in critical incidents for when it opens the new Transitional Shelter Care Facility, specifically:
Policy documentating written protocols for all procedures a the Transitional Shelter Care Facility is complete. Policy outlining the explploration of lacements with relatives/NREFMS as a first option, starting the process before the child/youth arrive at the facility, whenever possible, and complete Emergency Resource Family Approval (ERFA) placement within 72.
The facility is expected to open on March 27,2026. Both the AC Steering Committee and the AC Board will be able to review overstay data one month following the opening of the Transitional Shelter Care Facility.
We expect fully implementation of this recommendation by June 1, 2026
Recommendation 12
To ensure that it identifies and corrects any past deficiencies before it reopens the new transitional shelter, the department should, by October 2026, collaborate with its transitional shelter contractors and implement policies and processes for the quarterly evaluation of transitional center performance, such as reviewing compliance with its operating standards, facility standards, and standards of reporting critical incidents. The policies and processes should include the documentation of corrective actions. The department should also implement procedures for tracking trends in critical incidents at the new facility to ensure that it can address any deficiencies it identifies.
Agency response status:
Not fully implemented
Date of implementation:
June 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Pending
60-Day Agency Response
The department has developed written polices and processes for performance evaluation and tracking trends in critical incidents for when it opens the new transitional shelter care facility. Specifically:
- Refresher Training on reporting requirements for contracted partners, Administration, and Facility Manager is completed.
- Creating a system to track late Critical/Incident Illness and Run Away Incident reports is completed.
- Creating a cheat sheet for incident reporting timelines is in progress.
- Sharing reports, data trends, strategies, deficiencies and recommendations for the practice and policy changes at the AC Steering Committee and the AC Board meeting, which includes the Agency Director are pending the AC reopening.
- Resume Health and Safety Facility Meetings will occur when the facility reopens.
6-Month Agency Response
The Department has developed written policies and processes for performance evaluation and tracking trends in critical incidents for when it opens the Transitional Shelter Care Facility, specifically:
Refresher training on reporting requirements for contracted partners, Administration, and Facility Manager is completed.
A system to track late Critical/Incidents Illness, and Run Away Incident reports is completed.
A cheat sheat for incident reporting timelines has been completed.
The Transitional Shelter Care Facility is expected to be open begining March 27, 2026. AC Steering Committee and the AC Board will begin receiving information regarding Critical/Incidents Illness and Run Away Incident reports one month after the Transitional Shelter Care Facility is open. Additionally, Health and Safety Facility Meetings will begin one the facility opens.
Recommendation 13
To ensure that department staff receive the required core and continuing training in a timely manner, the department should do the following by October 2026, develop and document a process to track child welfare workers’ and supervisors’ progress in completing all required continuing training and report regularly to department management the training completion records for all staff. This process should include creating periodic reminders for child welfare workers and supervisors to complete annual continuing training.
Agency response status:
Fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Nov. 2025
State Auditor assessment status:
Fully implemented
60-Day Agency Response
The Department has developed a process where quarterly all managers (Supervisors, Program Managers, Division Directors, and the Assistant Agency Director) are sent a list of all staff and their progress with completion of required training hours. All management staff were trained on how to view the report on November 6, 2025. Additionally, all managers were instructed to include this in their ongoing conference memorandum with staff the number of training hours completed.
Recommendation 14
To ensure that department staff receive the required core and continuing training in a timely manner, the department should do the following by October 2026, establish processes to hold child welfare workers and supervisors accountable for completing the core training and annual continuing training. For example, the process could incorporate completion of training requirements in staff performance appraisals.
Agency response status:
Fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Jan. 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Fully implemented
60-Day Agency Response
A process has been developed to monitor staff’s progress with their annual training requirement. It will be included in their supervision conference memorandums, evaluations, and regular progressive discipline for failure to complete.
6-Month Agency Response
The Department has developed a process to hold child welfare workers and supervisors accountable for completing their core and annual training. Training is reviewed and documented in bi-monthly supervision conference memorandums. Supervision Conference Memorandums include a check mark to address if improved performance is needed. As the progress of completing annual training hours is now being included as part of ongoing supervision memorandums where improvement in performance can be indicated, this information can be accurately reflected in annual evaluation.
Additionally, regular reminders regarding training opportunities and requirements are being emailed to staff to support supervisors efforts in getting their staff to training.
This process is showing inprovement in training completion.
Recommendation 15
To ensure that it can monitor the timely provision of services, the department should, by October 2026, make sure that all contracts include the RBA measures, such as timeliness performance metrics for service provision.
Agency response status:
Fully implemented
Date of implementation:
Feb. 2026
State Auditor assessment status:
Fully implemented
60-Day Agency Response
The Department has reviewed all contracts and determined that 40 need to have timeliness measures added. The Department will be doing sideletters to each contract to include the timeliness measure, and then presented to the Board of Supervisors for approval. It is anticipated this work will be completed by February 2026
6-Month Agency Response
For every service contract created in the Social Services Agency for the Department of Children and Family Services, a sideletter was created to add a timeliness measure to the contract. The sideletter then had to be signed by both the contractor and the Social Services Agency Director to be considered fully executed. Of the thirty services contracts, twenty nine have fully executed side letters. There is one outstanding sideletter that was issued on Februrary 23, 2026 that is waiting for signature from the contractor. This contractor is a city and the sideletter is apparently going through their internal legal process before signature.
For the contracts generated by our General Services Agency, an amendment to the contract was required to add a timeliness measure. There were eight contracts that needed to be amended. All of these contracts have been amended and signed.
