Report 2017-112 Recommendation 17 Responses

Report 2017-112: Homelessness in California: State Government and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Need to Strengthen Their Efforts to Address Homelessness (Release Date: April 2018)

Recommendation #17 To: Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority

To expand the number of service providers through targeted technical assistance, the Authority should continue its efforts to develop and implement technical assistance programs for service providers, and track and analyze the results of that assistance by April 2019.

1-Year Agency Response

LAHSA received the final aggregate report from TCC group on 3/4/19 and is scheduling a series of planning sessions with TA providers to develop recommendations for system leadership based on the analysis. Further, LAHSA is developing of a plan to evaluate the impact of technical assistance provision. The plan will be fully developed by April 30, 2019.

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

6-Month Agency Response

LAHSA posted the RFSQ instructional webinar to our webpage on 9/28/18.

The capacity building unit has sent invitations to the Core Capacity Assessment Tool (CCAT) to providers identified in one of three ways: 1) current subrecipients and subcontracted providers, 2) providers that submit documents for RFSQ certification, and 3) providers that apply for the Organization Capacity Building Technical Assistance RFP. Detailed implementation plan is outlined in supporting document entitled, Timeline Communications Management.

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

60-Day Agency Response

LAHSA provides technical assistance through multiple means. Active contract management and technical assistance is provided through the Performance Management unit. RFSQ technical assistance is typically provided by the Procurement unit, who is currently developing an RFSQ webinar which will be released by September 2018.

Furthermore, in January 2018, LAHSA launched a technical assistance initiative to strengthen the operational infrastructure of homeless service providers across LA County. This initiative is comprised of several strategies to identify technical assistance needs, connect providers with technical assistance opportunities which include access to public and private resources to build capacity, and analyze the results of that assistance.

To track and analyze results of technical assistance, LAHSA has contracted with The Core Capacity Group (TCC Group) to obtain access codes to the Core Capacity Assessment Tool (CCAT). The agreement provides 300 CCAT access codes to be administered and analyzed between May 2018 - June 2020. On an annual basis, TCC group will aggregate the CCAT data of participating organizations to provide a snapshot of strengths and challenges to LAHSA to inform the delivery of capacity building services to partners, and track the results of capacity building initiatives over time.

Providers will be identified and referred to an access code to self-administer the CCAT in the following ways:

1) Providers that apply for RFSQ certification will receive a CCAT access code to obtain a baseline assessment of their organization's capacity.

2) Providers that apply for the Organizational Capacity Building Technical Assistance Application (RFP) are required through the statement of work to self-administer the CCAT within 0-120 days to provide a baseline assessment of their organization's capacity.

3) Providers that are currently a LAHSA subrecipient and are administering LAHSA funds will receive a CCAT access code.

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

All Recommendations in 2017-112

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.