Report 2021-113 Recommendation 32 Responses

Report 2021-113: Batterer Intervention Programs: State Guidance and Oversight Are Needed to Effectively Reduce Domestic Violence (Release Date: October 2022)

Recommendation #32 To: San Joaquin County Probation Department

To ensure that program providers comply with the probation department's standards and state law, San Joaquin Probation should develop and follow formalized policies and procedures for approving, renewing, and conducting comprehensive ongoing monitoring of program providers by April 2023. These policies should specify the frequency of monitoring, the documentation the department will require of program providers to demonstrate compliance, and the specific actions the department will take when a provider is noncompliant.

6-Month Agency Response

The department has updated standards for client programs and certificatiions for renewing and conducting comprehensive ongoing monitoring of program providers.

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

We do not agree with San Joaquin's assertion that it has fully implemented comprehensive procedures for approving, renewing, and conducting ongoing monitoring of program providers. Specifically, the policies San Joaquin provided to support its assertion are from 2019, which was before this audit and its related findings. To comply, we would expect San Joaquin to revise its policies and procedures to provide its staff guidance on items such as the frequency of ongoing monitoring, a method to ensure that providers report program violations, including, but not limited to, excessive or unexcused absences , and a method to review program's fee schedules and ensure that providers follow those schedules in compliance with state law. Until it does so, we will continue to report this recommendation as not fully implemented.


60-Day Agency Response

The San Joaquin County Probation Department is currently developing a detailed, comprehensive polices for certifying, approving, renewing and monitoring of program providers

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


All Recommendations in 2021-113

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.