Report 2021-616 Recommendation 6 Responses

Report 2021-616: Board of State and Community Corrections: Its Administration of Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funds Has Been Marred by Delays, Unfair Awards, and Insufficient Monitoring (Release Date: October 2021)

Recommendation #6 To: State and Community Corrections, Board of

To maximize the number of applicants that apply for grant funding, Community Corrections should ensure that its grant requirements are not overly burdensome and that they are achievable within the grant period.

The BSCC develops grant programs pursuant to authorizing legislation or the applicable federal requirements. All attempts are made to develop programs that are fair, reasonable, and responsive to the administrative, programmatic, and fiscal responsibilities that accompany each grant. The BSCC does not develop program requirements that are burdensome or that include outcomes that are not achievable.

Completion Date: December 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Pending

Community Corrections has not demonstrated that it has implemented measures to ensure that its grant program requirements are not overly burdensome or that they do not include outcomes that are not achievable. In our review of Community Corrections' updated grant proposal evaluation process, we did not find any guidance in this regard. Thus, until this information is included, we will continue to report the status of this recommendation as not fully implemented.

Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation

Completion Date: December 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Pending

Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation

he BSCC develops grant programs pursuant to authorizing legislation or the applicable federal requirements. All attempts are made to develop programs that are fair, reasonable, and responsive to the administrative, programmatic, and fiscal responsibilities that accompany each grant. The BSCC does not develop program requirements that are burdensome or that include outcomes that are not achievable.

Completion Date: December 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Pending

Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation

Completion Date: December 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Pending

Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation

Completion Date: November 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Pending

Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation

Completion Date: December 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Pending

Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation

Completion Date: December 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of Status: Pending

We strongly disagree with Community Corrections' assertion that it does not develop program requirements that are burdensome or that include outcomes that are not achievable. Specifically, as described in the section beginning on page 14 of our report, we concluded that Community Corrections' grant requirements surrounding local advisory committees and having counties pass through 20 percent of the funds to CBOs were overly burdensome to the counties. We interviewed representatives from five of the 26 counties that did not apply for CESF funds and, as we describe on page 15, three stated that they did not apply because of the grant solicitation's requirements, including the amount of time and resources it would take to form the committees. Additionally, Community Corrections' did not provide documentation to support its assertions herein. Thus, we look forward to reviewing Community Corrections' efforts to implement this recommendation in its future responses.

Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation

Completion Date: December 2021

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

Community Corrections' insinuation that it develops grant programs solely based on authorizing legislation or applicable federal requirements is inaccurate and misleading. Further, we disagree with Community Corrections' assertion that it does not develop program requirements that are burdensome or that include outcomes that are not achievable. As we discuss in the section starting on page 14 of the report, Community Corrections required counties to form local advisory committees to plan and oversee CESF funds at the local level and pass through 20 percent of the funds to CBOs. However, some counties felt they did not have the time or resources to meet this requirement. These requirements represented a more stringent approach than that taken by the U.S. DOJ, which required that recipients use CESF funds to prepare for, prevent, or respond to COVID-19 only. Additionally, we interviewed representatives from five of the 26 counties that did not apply for CESF funds and three stated that they did not apply because of the grant solicitation's requirements, including the amount of time and resources it would take to form the committees. It is likely that some of the other counties may have also chose not to apply for similar reasons. Thus, we concluded that these grant requirements were overly burdensome to the counties. It is unfortunate that Community Corrections' is dismissive of our recommendation and fails to recognize that its burdensome requirements created an unnecessary obstacle that deterred some counties from applying for CESF funds.

Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation

All Recommendations in 2021-616

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.