Report 2011-101.1 Recommendation 15 Responses

Report 2011-101.1: Child Welfare Services: California Can and Must Provide Better Protection and Support for Abused and Neglected Children (Release Date: October 2011)

Recommendation #15 To: Social Services, Department of

To achieve greater cooperation from county CWS agencies and to make it possible for some of these agencies to improve their placement practices, Social Services should develop a funding alternative that allows the agencies to retain a portion of state funds they save as a result of reducing their reliance on foster family agencies and only making placements with these agencies when justified by the elevated treatment needs of the child. The agencies would use these funds to support placement activities necessary to achieve the savings (for example, assessment centers and placement resource units).

1-Year Agency Response

Social Services stated that the intent of this recommendation has been essentially implemented by the realignment of CWS funding. Social Services indicated that, under realignment, county CWS agencies now have financial incentives to place children in the lowest cost placement necessary to effectively meet the needs of individual children. (See 2013-406, p. 119)

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

All Recommendations in 2011-101.1

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.