Report 2012-105 Recommendation 18 Responses

Report 2012-105: Departments of Public Health and Social Services: Weaknesses in the Administration of the Child Health and Safety Fund and the State Children's Trust Fund Limit Their Effectiveness (Release Date: November 2012)

Recommendation #18 To: Social Services, Department of

To ensure that its efforts funded by the trust fund are preventing or reducing incidences of child abuse and neglect, Social Services should evaluate the performance measurements annually to assess whether the trust fund's programs and services are effective in reducing incidences of child abuse and neglect.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2015

The Office of Child Abuse Prevention has received and evaluated quarterly reports for a full year, ensuring that all State Children's Trust Fund (SCTF) grantees meet established performance measures. Grants funded by the SCTF in fiscal year 2014-15 include the California Evidence Based Clearinghouse, Mandated Reporter Training, and the Family Development Matrix.

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

We confirmed that Social Services' Office of Child Abuse Prevention is obtaining and documenting its review of quarterly performance reports from the grantees described in the department's response.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2014

Partially Corrected. The first report is due from grantees at the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year, in October. The report period is July-September 2014; grantees report within 30 days of the end of the reporting period.

OCAP staff will review progress with respect to measure on a quarterly, not annual, basis, and work with grantees to monitor progress on outcomes.

The recommendation will not be fully implemented until the end of the first year of implementation, to satisfy the annual review requirement. However, measures will be reviewed at least quarterly.

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

1-Year Agency Response

Partially Corrected/Anticipated Correction Date: December 31, 2013. The CDSS has created a plan to develop overarching performance outcome measures for the SCTF that are appropriate for the programs funded. Since the SCTF programs vary widely in purpose and function, the goal of the inclusive process is to build agreement around which measures can be universally applicable. This process will include transmission of a set of proposed outcomes to stakeholders for review and comments prior to their finalization. The performance outcome measures will incorporate the requirements for the SCTF as set forth in WIC section 18969(e).

1) During this reporting period the CDSS convened a stakeholder group that included community-based organizations, OCAP staff, and a parent from the community who is the mother of a special needs child and also the Executive Director of WarmLine Family Resource Center, to discuss ideas for improved accountability and effectiveness, and to review and consider outcome and performance measures for all OCAP fund sources.

2) The performance measures are now being vetted through the CDSS Executive Office. Once approved, a final set of performance measures will be published and implementation across programs will begin.

3) After the performance measures are finalized, they will be reflected in the grants CDSS awards and will be utilized to determine whether the grants are effective in meeting the funds' requirements as well as the efficacy in reaching goals of reducing abuse and neglect.

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

6-Month Agency Response

The CDSS will incorporate these performance measures into its Request for Application/Request for Proposal process for future grant awards. For existing grantees, the CDSS will update their scope-of-work to incorporate the performance measures. Fund recipients will be required to report annually on the overarching performance measures, and will be required to modify performance if out of compliance.

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

60-Day Agency Response

Social Services stated, by June 30, 2013, it will develop and publish a set of overarching performance measures for the trust fund that will be consistent with the legislative intent of the fund, as described in Welfare and Institutions Code section 18969(e).

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

All Recommendations in 2012-105

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.