Report 2015-503 Recommendation Responses

Report 2015-503: Follow-Up—California Department of Social Services: It Has Not Corrected Previously Recognized Deficiencies in Its Oversight of Counties' Antifraud Efforts for the CalWORKs and CalFresh Programs (Release Date: June 2015)

Recommendation for Legislative Action

The Legislature should require Social Services to determine the cost-effectiveness of any proposed alternative to SFIS in advance of Social Services adopting any such alternative method or tool to detect and prevent duplicate-aid fraud.

Description of Legislative Action

Senate Bill 89 (Chapter 24, Statutes of 2017), in part, requires Social Services to implement and maintain an automated, nonbiometric identity verification method for the CalWORKs program and report to the Legislature no later than November 1, 2017, regarding options for the design, implementation, and maintenance of the verification method and prescribed criteria. The statute makes SFIS inoperative upon implementation of the nonbiometric identity verification method if that implementation occurs prior to April 1, 2018, or if the director of Social Services requires additional time for implementation of that method, upon implementation of that method, or June 30, 2018, whichever is sooner. Because this statute would render SFIS inoperative, this recommendation is no longer necessary.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: No Longer Necessary


Description of Legislative Action

Senate Bill 89 (Chapter 24, Statutes of 2017), in part, requires Social Services to implement and maintain an automated, nonbiometric identity verification method for the CalWORKs program and report to the Legislature no later than November 1, 2017, regarding options for the design, implementation, and maintenance of the verification method and prescribed criteria. The statute makes SFIS inoperative upon implementation of the nonbiometric identity verification method if that implementation occurs prior to April 1, 2018, or if the director of Social Services requires additional time for implementation of that method, upon implementation of that method, or June 30, 2018, whichever is sooner. Because this statute would render SFIS inoperative, this recommendation is no longer necessary.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: No Longer Necessary


Description of Legislative Action

Legislation has not been introduced to address this recommendation.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: No Action Taken


All Recommendations in 2015-503