Report 2010-116 Recommendation 7 Responses

Report 2010-116: Sex Offender Commitment Program: Streamlining the Process for Identifying Potential Sexually Violent Predators Would Reduce Unnecessary or Duplicative Work (Release Date: July 2011)

Recommendation #7 To: State Hospitals, Department of

To ensure that it will have enough qualified staff to perform evaluations, Mental Health should continue its efforts to obtain approval for a new position classification for evaluators. If the State Personnel Board approves the new classification, Mental Health should take steps to recruit qualified individuals as quickly as possible. Additionally, Mental Health should continue its efforts to train its consulting psychologists to conduct evaluations.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2012

The Department of State Hospitals (DSH) obtained approval from SPB in March 2012 for the new Sexually Violent Predator Evaluator (SVP-E) classification and has since filled 13.0 positions. In addition, DSH has hired a total of 20.0 Consulting Psychologist (CP) positions and one Chief Psychologist for a total of 34.0 evaluator positions.

Training of the Consulting Psychologists

DSH expects to complete the training of 20.0 CPs and 13.0 SVP-Es to conduct evaluations by November 2012.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2010-116

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.