Report 2018-114 Recommendation 21 Responses

Report 2018-114: Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise Program: The Departments of General Services and Veterans Affairs Have Failed to Maximize Participation and to Accurately Measure Program Success (Release Date: February 2019)

Recommendation #21 To: General Services, Department of

To minimize the occurrence of program abuse and ensure that program abuse cases are handled appropriately and consistently, General Services should develop procedures for awarding departments to help them identify whether a complaint constitutes program abuse, document and track all complaints, and take appropriate steps when investigating program abuse complaints.

6-Month Agency Response

DGS is including best practice procedures and documents in the Awarding Department Comprehensive Program Abuse Training. Training includes how to identify program abuse allegations and distinguish these from other complaints. The training material includes documentation, reporting, and processing of these program abuse allegations. These procedures and training documents are being posted to the DGS website as well as included in handouts during training.

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

60-Day Agency Response

DGS is currently in the process of updating its best practices documents and developing procedures to aid state departments in identification of program abuse vs other complaints as well as tracking and responding to these complaints. Once these procedures are finalized, they will be included in the training materials for the Awarding Department Comprehensive Program Abuse Training scheduled to begin in April 2019 and end in August 2019. This training and materials will be posted on the DGS website as well as included in handouts during training.

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

All Recommendations in 2018-114

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.