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Extracted from Consolidated Report
This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 8 findings
F1
Page 80
In the Audit of 2009, CDRA was apprised of numerous financial control issues. The Auditor-Controller, in the follow-up Audit, indicated that all control issues had been addressed, and the few remaining issues were of no material importance.
F2
Page 80
The Grand Jury finds that two organizations (Permitting and Front Counter Services) within CDRA have embraced the use of PLUS. Other functions within CDRA still view it as a system that staff ultimately has to enter data into, but is not an integral part of their operations. If the data in PLUS is perceived to be accurate and complete, customer service can be more efficient, accurate, and timely in addressing organizational goals.
F3
Page 80
The inconsistent application of PLUS in CDRA is not due to training, but to a lack of management commitment that PLUS is an integral part of the operation and therefore a responsibility within every job.
F4
Page 80
The updated policy manual identifies a PLUS Steering Committee comprised of senior level management within CDRA. The management review of the Policy Manual has been in process for over four months and is still not complete.
F5
Page 80
There is little attention paid to the use of performance data collected by the PLUS system. No one interviewed could identify the use of the reports that are generated by PLUS to validate the operations of the department or division.
F6
Page 80
The only group that seems to be mindful of any performance measure need is the front counter operations that uses a software application external to PLUS, QFlow, to track customer queue time.
F7
Page 80
There has been a change in the function of the PLUS users group since it was formed. Originally a major activity of the PLUS users group was to answer the question ‘how do I do that?’. The primary focus was to identify bugs in the underlying software. Currently the focus of the users group is to discuss and provide guidance into the use of PLUS to enhance CDRA operations.
F8
Page 80
PLUS is a mature software application. While the vendor has not made any commitments or published any dates with regard to the end of support of the PLUS system, it is anticipated that this will happen in the foreseeable future. Basic safeguards for CDRA are in place, such as escrow storage for source code protection, and the fact that the system is of sufficient age that very few errors are now being found and they are not of general significance. PLUS 80 2010 -2011 Placer County Grand Jury
Recommendations 3
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R1Page 81The PLUS Steering Committee establishes goals to ensure that all employees use the PLUS application as the Policy document dictates.
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R2Page 81The PLUS Steering Committee completes the Policy Manual management review and approval process.
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R3Page 81The PLUS Users Group be redirected, and possibly reconstituted, to accomplish the following tasks: • Devise a method of measuring the efficiency of operations supported by PLUS to provide management with a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of their actions. • Develop a plan for a comprehensive PLUS training and education program. • Develop a plan to increase the overall utilization and value of the PLUS application to the county. • Start planning for the eventual replacement of the PLUS application. Even though there is no indication of near-term support termination, planning for a major upgrade to a system that is integral to operations is nominally a multi-year task.