Report 2015-115 Recommendation 19 Responses

Report 2015-115: Dually Involved Youth: The State Cannot Determine the Effectiveness of Efforts to Serve Youth Who Are Involved in Both the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems (Release Date: February 2016)

Recommendation #19 To: Los Angeles County

To identify their population of dually involved youth, Los Angeles County's CWS and probation agencies should provide guidance or training to staff on recording joint assessment hearing information consistently within the designated system.

1-Year Agency Response

1. Designate the data system that the Departments will use for tracking hearing dates and results of joint assessment hearings: Los Angeles County will continue to utilize the existing 241.1 Court Application to track hearing dates and the results of joint assessment hearings.

2. Provide guidance or training to staff on recording joint assessment hearing information consistently within the designated system: Staff members within the Probation Department and Department of Children and Family Services have received guidance and training on recording joint assessment hearing information. However, in the course of retrieving the data requested, the County became aware of some discrepancies in the data contained within the 241.1 Court Application. This is attributed to the inability of each Department to see the entries/information entered by the other Departments. Accordingly, the County reprogrammed the database to allow the Department of Children and Family Services and the Probation Department to view each other's information. In addition, the Probation Department acts as the Lead Agency to enter the disposition date and outcome information to the database. The reprogramming did not negatively impact the County's ability to generate reports from the database or the data transfer for the research project led by Dr. Herz, California State University in Los Angeles. The County modified its training to address the updated program and data entry process and ensure that guidance and/or training is provided to staff as needed. Both Departments will review monthly quality assurance reports in order to ensure all dispositions and disposition dates are entered to the database.

On August 30, 2016, the 241.1 Application received the 2016 Excellence in Technology - Outstanding IT Project Award.

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

Los Angeles County probation provided copies of the handouts and screenshots from its training that it provided to CWS and probation staff. The training materials show that staff can record information related to joint assessment hearings within the county's 241.1 Court Application system.

6-Month Agency Response

Staff within the Probation Department and Department of Children and Family Services have already received guidance and training on recording joint assessment hearing information. However, in the course of retrieving the data requested, the County became aware of some discrepancies in the data contained within the 241.1 Court Application. This is attributed to the inability of each Department to see the entries/information entered by the other Departments. Accordingly, the County is re-programming the database to allow the Department of Children and Family Services and the Probation Department to view each other's information. In addition, the Probation Department will act as the Lead agency to enter the disposition date and outcome information to the database. The reprogramming will not negatively impact the County's ability to generate reports from the database or the data transfer for the research project led by Dr. Herz, California State University in Los Angeles. The County will modify its existing training to address the updated program and data entry process and ensure that guidance and/or training is provided to staff as needed.

On August 30, 2016, the 241.1 Application received the 2016 Excellence in Technology - Outstanding IT Project Award.

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

Per Los Angeles County's response, it will not fully implement this recommendation until September 30, 2016.

60-Day Agency Response

Provide guidance or training to staff on recording joint assessment hearing information consistently within the designated system: Staff within the Probation Department and Department of Children and Family Services have already received guidance and training on recording joint assessment hearing information. However, in the course of retrieving the data requested, the County became aware of some discrepancies in the data contained within the 241.1 Court Application. This is attributed to the inability of each Department to see the entries/information entered by other Departments. Accordingly, the County plans to explore the possibility of allowing, at a minimum, the Department of Children and Family Services and the Probation Department to view each other's information. In addition, the County will determine whether there were any other factors which contributed to the discrepancies. Upon identifying and resolving all contributing factors, the County will modify its existing training to address the issues identified and ensure that guidance and/or training is provided to staff as needed.

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

All Recommendations in 2015-115

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.