Report 2013-103 Recommendation 19 Responses

Report 2013-103: Armed Persons With Mental Illness: Insufficient Outreach From the Department of Justice and Poor Reporting From Superior Courts Limit the Identification of Armed Persons With Mental Illness (Release Date: October 2013)

Recommendation #19 To: State Hospitals, Department of

To ensure that all applicable information from State Hospitals is communicated to Justice, by March 31, 2014, Justice and State Hospitals should establish a written understanding of the method and frequency with which State Hospitals will report prohibited individuals to Justice.

1-Year Agency Response

The Department of State Hospitals (DSH) continues to successfully share with the Department of Justice (DOJ) the required information about armed prohibited persons on an ongoing basis. Pursuant to the audit recommendation that it would be beneficial to implement a formal agreement with DOJ regarding the method and frequency of the information sharing, DSH's Executive Team approved and provided to DOJ for review a draft Interagency Agreement (IA). On October 14, 2014, DOJ approved and returned to DSH the IA.

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

6-Month Agency Response

The Department of State Hospitals (DSH) continues to successfully share with the Department of Justice (DOJ) the required information about prohibited persons on an ongoing basis. Pursuant to the audit recommendation that it would be beneficial to implement a formal agreement with DOJ regarding the method and frequency of the information sharing, DSHs Executive Team has approved a draft Interagency Agreement (IA). On February 26, 2014, DSH met with DOJ to discuss the implementation of an IA, and subsequently provided the approved draft IA to DOJ for review. Prior to implementation of the IA, if necessary, DSH and DOJ will meet again to discuss any proposed changes thereto.

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

60-Day Agency Response

The Department of State Hospitals (DSH) continues to successfully share with the Department of Justice (DOJ) the required information about prohibited persons on an ongoing basis. Pursuant to the audit recommendation that it would be beneficial to implement a formal agreement with DOJ regarding the method and frequency of the information sharing, DSH has drafted a preliminary Interagency Agreement between DSH and DOJ, which is currently being vetted by DSH's Executive Team. Additionally, DSH has a meeting scheduled with DOJ on January 14, 2014, to discuss the current status of the information sharing and the implementation of the audit recommendation.

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

All Recommendations in 2013-103

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.