Report 2015-115 Recommendation 20 Responses

Report 2015-115: Dually Involved Youth: The State Cannot Determine the Effectiveness of Efforts to Serve Youth Who Are Involved in Both the Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice Systems (Release Date: February 2016)

Recommendation #20 To: Riverside, County of

To identify their population of dually involved youth, Riverside County's CWS and probation agencies should provide guidance or training to staff on recording joint assessment hearing information consistently within the designated system.

6-Month Agency Response

Training was provided to DPSS/CSD and Probation staff on April 14, 2016 and July 14, 2016 with both agencies presenting and learning together. Training was requested by the Presiding Judge and given jointly by DPSS and Probation for Bench Officers and attorneys September 9, 2016. An additional session is scheduled for October 14, 2016.

A designated child welfare staff reviews each Dual Status Youth's case records monthly to ensure the available CWS/CMS fields are completed along with other case-related variables. All active Dual Status cases are reviewed and tracked using the dedicated spreadsheet. Significant improvement has been realized in tracking the lead agency of record, hearing outcome, engagement in services, terms and conditions for placement, as well as separate and collaborative efforts to serve the youth. Trend data is prepared and shared to invested parties from DPSS and Probation and partner agencies.

Additional enhancements and collaborative efforts are well underway including joint DPSS and Probation executive management quarterly meetings; monthly manager level meetings to address concerns and issues in serving youth at risk of Dual Status; and monthly case reviews with supervisors from both agencies along with the impacted DPSS/CSD social worker and probation officer.

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

Riverside County provided evidence of the joint training between DPSS/CSD and Probation Staff. It also provided a copy of the tracking log it uses to record joint assessment hearings and their results.

60-Day Agency Response

Riverside County did not respond to our requests for its 60-day response.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: No Action Taken

We look forward to Riverside County's 6-month response due on August 25, 2016.

All Recommendations in 2015-115

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.