Report 2015-115 Recommendation 18 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 #18 To: Kern County

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

60-Day Agency Response

Transmitted here within is the County of Kern's 60 day response of the efforts taken to implement the California State Auditor's recommendations included in the report entitled Dually Involved Youth. The response was a collaborative effort with each of the County departments that manage the operations. The County Administrative Office, Department of Human Services, and Probation Department collaborated and are in concurrence with this response.

KERN COUNTY'S IMPLEMENTATION RESPONSE

Kern County has fully implemented the recommendations made by the California State Auditor in its report entitled Dually Involved Youth. Prior to the audit Kern County was not tracking the outcomes of WIC 241.1 joint assessments. Now all joint assessment dispositions are entered in CWS/CMS. If the youth is found to be appropriate for wardship, Probation staff will enter the information. If dependency is appropriate, Probation staff will notify the Department of Human Services and their staff will enter the information. Kern's WIC 241.1 Memorandum of Understanding is in the process of being updated to reflect this change in procedure. Furthermore, both departments will ensure staff is trained to this new protocol moving forward. Probation Division Director William Dickinson (661-396-4501) is the contact staff responsible for this implementation.

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

Kern County's compliance and accountability officer provided a copy of the county's revised WIC 241.1 Memorandum of Understanding, which highlights the requirement that county probation officers share the results of WIC 241.1 hearings with the county welfare services agency. In addition, the county's probation agency revised its placement manual to ensure that WIC 241.1 information is input into the statewide case management system. The county CWS agency provided guidance to its staff at a February 2016 meeting, while the county probation agency notified its staff informally. The probation agency will formally provide guidance to its staff in an August 2016 meeting.

All Recommendations in 2015-115

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.