Report 2021-616 Recommendations

To ensure that it efficiently and effectively administers state and federal grants, including any future emergency funds it might receive, Community Corrections should improve its standard grant policies and procedures by December 2021 to address the justification for the allocation formula it chooses, including an assessment of the recipients' need for the funds.

To ensure that it efficiently and effectively administers state and federal grants, including any future emergency funds it might receive, Community Corrections should improve its standard grant policies and procedures by December 2021 to address how its allocation of emergency funds, such as federal COVID-19 funding, will reflect the effect of the emergency on potential applicants.

To ensure that it efficiently and effectively administers state and federal grants, including any future emergency funds it might receive, Community Corrections should improve its standard grant policies and procedures by December 2021 to address the promptness of is grant process, including specific timelines for how quickly it must obtain board approval, develop its grant solicitation, evaluate applications, make awards, and disburse the funds.

To ensure that it efficiently and effectively administers state and federal grants, including any future emergency funds it might receive, Community Corrections should improve its standard grant policies and procedures by December 2021 to address the circumstances under which it will deviate from its solicitation requirements and the steps it will take to ensure that it informs all applicants--and potential applicants--of the deviations, such as by including this information in its grant solicitation or in subsequent communications made available to all potential applicants.

To ensure that it efficiently and effectively administers state and federal grants, including any future emergency funds it might receive, Community Corrections should improve its standard grant policies and procedures by December 2021 to address a thorough and documented evaluation of grant applications, including the justification for awards and an explanation of how it will solve instances in which an application does not comply with the solicitation's requirements, so that its decision to approve each application is justified.

To maximize the number of applicants that apply for grant funding, Community Corrections should ensure that its grant requirements are not overly burdensome and that they are achievable within the grant period.

To effectively notify potential applicants of funding opportunities, by December 2021, Community Corrections should take steps to ensure that its email distribution list includes accurate and complete information for key local government officials.

To comply with federal and state requirements, and to ensure transparency, consistency, and fairness in its grant process, Community Corrections should post its grant procedures publicly on its website once it has improved its standard grant procedures.

To ensure that CDCR and the counties spend CESF funds appropriately and in a timely manner, Community Corrections should immediately develop and implement a plan to begin monitoring the use of CESF funds. This plan should include steps to ensure that it obtains and reviews required reports on time, takes action based on what it finds, and employs a strategy to identify potential instances of counties using CESF funds to supplant other funding.

To comply with federal reporting requirements, Community Corrections should submit all required fiscal and progress reports to the U.S. DOJ by the reporting deadlines.