Child Support Collection Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Recommendations 9

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  Child Support Collection Program The Child Support Collection Program (CSCP) is a complex series of subsystems administered by ten Governmental agencies, with the principal roles being performed Superior and Municipal Courts District Attorney (DA) Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) Auditor-Controller/Court Trustee (CT) Data Processing Department (DPD) The following participate in this program to a lesser degree: Probation, Marshall, Sheriff, Bureau of Resources and Collections, and County Clerk. On May 29, 1973 the Board of Supervisors approved the recommendation of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to transfer the Child Support Collection Program en- forcement activities from DPSS to the District Attorney. The DA will begin absorbing DPSS child support unit offices at the rate of one or two offices per month over the next 18 months. By 1975, 26 offices will be absorbed. It is believed that centralized leadership and coordination of the departments involved by the DA are important factors in the success of the program. Full support in terms of the commitment of County resources will be required. An annual review of this program by auditors appointed by the Grand Jury is provided for in Section 10602.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code of the California Welfare Reform Act of 1971. As instructed by the State Department of Social Welfare, the report on this review is to be presented in two parts: A systems report, briefly outlining the County agencies involved and their re- sponsibilities and performances in the program. A Statistical report (form CA344) for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1973. The current year's review concentrated upon the following three major activities of Case establishment procedures Payment collection and distribution procedures Delinquency identification and processing procedures. In addition, an investigation was made as to the status of the recommendations made by the 1972 Contract Auditor. In this connection, the affected agency's comments and an indication of action taken were included in the 1973 report, and all significant recommendations not resolved have been included as 1973 recommendations. The Contract Auditor's 1973 report concluded that the County's Child Support Collection Program is not operating effectively and efficiently, and specified: "Delinquent payments are not being identified and collected on a systematic Oleveno. Procedures which are susceptible to automation (and cost reduction) are being Data flows are subject to errors and processing delays, and
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  Martin Luther King Jr. General Hospital The first patient was admitted to this hospital in March 1972, and, as expected, there were many initial problems of organization and staffing which normally exist at the inception of a large institution. The Audit Committee selected this unit for review, at this early stage, in the hope that the Contract Auditor would find constructive recom- mendations to assist in the attainment of maximum efficiency. The objective was not 13 to compare operations and statistics in a critical manner with other more mature organizations. The hospital renders services to recipients of public assistance and to the indigent and aged. In early 1972 it was designated as a community hospital. It has also entered into an operating agreement for medical teaching services with Charles R. Drew Postgradu- ate Medical School. Once the organizational phase is completed and the hospital is operating at full capacity, the rates charged are intended to equal the cost of the The initial plans of the hospital provided for a capacity of 394 beds, and the initial availability was 105 beds which has gradually increased to 356 beds as of June 30,
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  Road Department The Road Department is responsible for the construction and maintenance of all roads, bridges, and appurtenance facilities in the unincorporated portions of Los Angeles 15 County and in Contract Cities which have street maintenance agreements with the County. The Department is also responsible for the installation and maintenance of traffic signals and administration and maintenance of County Lighting and Lighting Maintenance Districts. Approximately 5,600 miles of streets and highways are main- tained by the Department, including 1,400 miles within Contract Cities. Revenues and expenditures of the Road Department for the three years ended June Year ended June 30 1971 1972 1973 Revenues $69,189,225 Expenditures $74,751,587 $71,828,607 75,804,609 71,546,803 Deficit 71,931,667 $ 6,615,384 $ (3,204,784) 103,060 In all three years both revenue and expenditures were substantially less than the totals budgeted, and in each year the actual excess of expenditures over revenue was less The scope of the examination was confined to a review by the Contract Auditor of the cost system, cost allocation procedures, inventory controls, equipment management and maintenance, salary and contract expenditures, contract awards and revenue On July 23, 1973 the Department, with the prior approval of the Board of Supervisors, awarded a contract costing $1.5 million for the design and implementation of a "Management Information System." This system which is intended to provide a full spectrum of management reports, will be implemented over a three-year period, and is expected to have applications usable by other departments. Several recommendations were made regarding current reports which include the A monthly computer report of completed work orders showing estimated and actual costs is important for management control. However, the auditors were in- formed that this report was discontinued or delayed by the Data Processing Di- vision, and the last report processed was for December 1972. It is recommended that this report be reinstated, and that it be issued on a timely basis each month, - Several instances were disclosed in which the computer generated reports appear There were a number of recommendations related to inventory control which include the following: Under present practice the various divisions and warehouses each operate 16 autonomously as to items carried and stock levels. It is recommended that the department consider the practicality of central control of all inventories. Criteria should be developed to establish inventory levels, reorder points and economic order quantities. Steps should be taken to improve the physical security of inventories in the central warehouse. An investigation should be made for possible inventory reduction through closer coordination with the Purchasing and Stores Department. The Road Department has 1,448 units of equipment which represent signficiant problems of utilization, repairs and maintenance. Some of the more pertinent recom- mendations in the report are: As equipment reports are prepared for management as to each unit of equipment there should be an organized routine review as to the utilization and operating costs of each major unit. Comprehensive equipment purchase and replacement formulas should be de- veloped to assist decision making. A copy of the job order should be used in scheduling equipment maintenance to allocate man hours, materials and equipment needed so that all factors, including priorities, may be considered. The department should investigate the feasibility of establishing a night shift for preventive maintenance and minor repairs to minimize "out of service" time. Other recommendations made by the Contract Auditor include: Quarterly rather than annual review of administrative overhead rates, more current updating of depreciation rates, automation of account receivable and monthly statements and past due notices, improvement of controls and review responsibilities over the processing of vendors' invoices, receivers and purchase orders, and the enforcement of procedures for the approval of journal vouchers.
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  Purchasing and Stores Department In the early months of 1973 the Audit Committee undertook an investigation of a substantial renewal contract awarded by the Purchasing and Stores Department for lamps, based on negotiation rather than by competitive bid. The report on the investi- gation which was filed with the Board of Supervisors recommended, among other things, that the Contract Auditor be instructed to further review the implementation of purchasing policies and procedures, and the documentation for contracts made or renewed on methods other than by formal bid. The review and report by the Contract Auditor was made in compliance with a request by the Board of Supervisors addressed to the Grand Jury. The scope of the review of this department was limited to the areas described above, and in addition a review of purchases when other than the low bidder was selected. It is the stated policy of the department that formal bid procedure is the preferred method of purchase, and that any other means shall be used only in instances when the best interests of the County will be served by using other methods in the carefully considered opinion of the buyer. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 1973, the Purchasing and Stores Department issued 170,866 purchase orders amounting to approximately $127 million and as of February 1973 there were 2,259 actual contracts of which 524 were issued on other than a formal bid (negotiated) basis, as summarized below from an analysis by the Percent to Estimated 1972-1973
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  Department of Public Social Services The Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) is responsible for the administration of categorized and indigent aid and other social welfare programs in accordance with Federal and State laws and County ordinances. DPSS maintains 35 district offices and other sub-offices, and for the year ended June 30, 1973 accounted for 40% of the County's appropriations and 19% of the total County employees funded. The following is a summary of "direct aid payments" with the participation therein, the number of such cases, and administrative expenditures for the three years ended Year Ended June 30, 1971 1972 1973 Participation in direct aid: Federal $355,888,592 $408,224,814 $398,160,021 State 271,688,757 302,172,040 288,071,068 County 166,040,166 146,805,771 153,812,922 Total direct aid $793,617,515 $857,202,625 $840,044,011 Number of direct aid cases 5,060,028 5,138,232 4,926,205 Administrative expenditures $135,149,547 $143,179,034 $154,809,780 After considerable research, in recognition of an urgent need for a highly sophisticated data processing system, the Welfare Case Management and Information System (WCMIS) was designed and approved by the Board of Supervisors on January 18, 1972. The implementation of this system is in progress; however, the passage of H.R.1 by Con- gress has necessitated a change in implementation priorities. H.R. 1 provides for the transfer of administrative responsibility for Adult Aid Programs to the Federal Social Security Administration effective January 1, 1974. A County interdepartmental task force was organized in November 1972 to supervise implementa- tion in the following general areas: case conversion, facilities to be vacated, budget 19 determinations and required legislation. According to information received by the Contract Auditor this project is progressing on schedule. The scope of the Contract Auditor's examination was confined to a review of the systems and procedures involved in determining and disbursing categorical aid payments in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), overpayments and duplicate payments of categorical aid, and a limited review of the status and implementation of certain recommendations directed to the Food Stamp Program by the Auditor- Properly documented case files of the recipients of aid are essential to the effective operations of DPSS. Based upon a random selection of cases in eight district offices, it was determined that vital documentation was missing or incorrect. It is therefore recommended that DPSS enforce its policies and procedures related to the maintenance of recipients' case files, make appropriate revisions and strengthen procedures for
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  Mechanical Department The Mechanical Department's responsibilities include: Repairs, maintenance and security of all County owned and leased buildings and 22 related equipment, excluding hospitals. If estimated costs of a repair or improve- ment exceed $6,500 for labor and/or $3,500 for materials the work must be Repair and maintenance of all County motor vehicles, except those of the Road Department and the Flood Control Disctrict. Maintenance of office machines. Operation of County parking facilities. A variety of other unrelated services including operation of sewage treatment plants, departmental messenger service, motor pool, security and crowd control There are approximately 1,560 building facilities totaling 23 million square feet and 5,133 automotive vehicles and related equipment. The Department has a main facility housing administration, central warehouse, craft shop, and vehicle service, plus five warehouses, and seven vehicle service facilities throughout the County. Revenues and expenditures are summarized below for the three years ended June 30, Year Ended June 30, 1971 1972 Revenue 1973 $ 1,512,734 $ 2,703,491 Expenditures: 2,618,628 Salaries, services, supplies and equipment (less costs transferred to other General Fund Departments) Fire apparatus and motor vehicles 16,439,893 18,630,799 Utilities (net) 1,680,300 19,890,194 2,850,453 7,536,537 1,493,950 8,949,309 25,656,730 10,433,513 30,430,561 Excess of expenditures 31,817,657 over revenue $24,143,996 $27,727,070 The excess of expenditures over revenue in each of the years was substantially less than the net amounts appropriated in the budgets for the respective years. On July 17, 1973 the Board of Supervisors approved the Road Department's request to contract for the design and implementation of a "Management Information System". The Mechanical Department has been requested to work with the Road Department so 23 The scope of the examination by the Contract Auditor was confined to cost allocation procedures, inventory controls, manpower utilization, maintenance systems, salary administration, purchasing and revenue controls. It was observed that some operational data is now available to the managers at various levels of the Department. However, it is recommended that a structure of management "reports by exception" be developed so that each manager may regularly evaluate his own unit's performance in terms of productivity, scheduling and resource utilization. The auditor has made a number of recommendations involving more effective use of the computer which include: Application of correct administrative overhead to all jobs, conversion of all billings now done manually, simplification of various payroll procedures, elimination of manually prepared inventory records, and the automation of a quantitative vehicle history report. Here Const In order to improve inventory controls it is recommended that quantified goals regard- ing rates of turnover and service levels be established, supplemented by the formuliza- tion of procedures to determine minimum stock levels and reorder points. A significant portion of the work performed by the building crafts divisions, involving building and equipment maintenance and special services, is not presently controlled through the issuance of work orders. Also, most of the work done is not formally estimated. The combination of uniformly prepared work orders and formal estimates would provide information which could be utilized in determining cost variances, backlog and completion requirements, and scheduling. By advance planning of equipment maintenance requirements, downtime and the number of back-up vehicles needed could be minimized. It has been suggested that preventive maintenance and minor repairs might be done in a night shift, which would increase the utilization of the equipment during daytime operating hours. While re- placement decisions are generally based on replacement schedules considering age, usage maintenance costs, etc. the County may benefit from the development of com- prehensive formulas which include all equipment cost and replacement factors. The Contract Auditor has made the following recommendations which involve evalua- tions by the Chief Administrative Officer: Reduction of the number of County garages Consolidation into the Mechanical Department of the maintenance responsibility and facilities for all County passenger vehicles. Transferring all passenger vehicles to the County fleet. Standardizing County business machine requirements and consolidating purchases and maintenance into annual contracts. The responsibility for control of approximately 600 gasoline credit cards currently issued to County employees was recently transferred to the Business Division of the Mechanical Department. It is recommended that policy guidelines be formalized to limit and control the issuance and use of these cards.
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  Department of Real Estate Management The Real Estate Management Department (REM) has had the responsibilities for: Purchasing or leasing real property. Administering leases of real property from others. Disposing of excess, vacated or abandoned real property. Locating facilities and providing assistance to relocating persons displaced by a Negotiating and administering leases, concessions or franchises awarded to others. Developing, administering, maintaining and providing law enforcement to County Rendering assistance to the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) in site selection of capital projects. Joint management of the construction of new facilities along with the CAO and the County Engineer. In 1972 studies were made by the Economy and Efficiency Committee, the CAO, the County Engineer, the Real Estate Management Department and several other depart- ments to investigate the problems of County construction programs and facilities management. The recommendations contained in the resulting CAO report were approved by the Board of Supervisors on November 28, 1972. The approved plan is called the Facilities Acquisition and Management System (FAMS) and provides, among other things, for a new Facilities Department whose responsibilities will include the assumption of the REM functions of real property acquisition, sale and leasing services as well as those related to County small craft harbors. The planning and control requirements are to be defined by each of the departments and submitted to the Facilities Department. In order to implement the plan as soon as possible the CAO is serving as the focal point until a director of the new department is selected. It is intended that FAMS will provide a comprehensive inventory and management computer system to serve the Facilities Department. The net expenditures of the REM department for the three years ended June 30, 1973 are listed below: SECTION AND ADDRESS OF Year Ended June 30, 1971 1972 1973 100 Total expenditures $2,048,696 $2,173,528 $2,458,998 Costs applied to other non- Southern out general fund departments 1,461,297 1,612,031 1,770,462 Revenue 4,730 44,807 104,536 Net expenditures 582,669 516,690 584,000 Net appropriations 792,802 769,547 805,783 The scope of the examination by the Contract Auditor was limited to: control and
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  Consolidated Fire Protection District The County Forester and Fire Warden is charged with the duty of supervising all County fire protection districts. The Consolidated Fire Protection District was es- tablished in 1949 by combining various separate districts, and others have been an- nexed since that date. The Consolidated District operates 136 engine companies, 18 truck companies and 27 rescue squads which are located in 128 fire stations. The Consolidated District serves 710 square miles of a total area of 2,169 square miles. The following is a summary of revenue and expenditures for the three years ended Year Ended June 30, 1971 1972 Revenue 1973 $25,205,709 $30,039,027 Expenditures $31,994,069 26,201,171 30,571,984 Excess of expenditures 33,467,690 over revenue 995,462 $ 532,957 The most significant source of revenue is the annual tax levy upon secured and un- secured property located within the Consolidated District. The excess of expenditures over revenues for each of the years was less than the net appropriations in the budget. The scope of the examination was limited to a review of cost allocation procedures, inventory controls, procedures for payroll and purchasing and revenue procedures and The Fire Department, along with other County departments, is reviewing its require- ments to determine the extent to which the Road Department's new Management Information System, particularly automation, can be utilized. As an alternative, an evaluation should be made to determine whether computerized applications are practi- cal using Data Processing Department facilities to replace current manual systems. The Contract Auditor had several recommendations regarding payroll including the suggestion to investigate the replacement of manual payroll records by using a com- plete computer application. There have been two sets of perpetual inventory records. It is recommended that the one kept in the warehouse be eliminated and the other be reconciled to the control account on a regular basis. Small value items should be expensed when purchased and not carried in inventory. Procedures should be established to simplify the review and approval of purchase requisitions.
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  Probation Department The Probation Department is generally performing investigative and supervisory services of juveniles or adults for the judicial branch of government. This Department is the largest in the nation with 4,253 budgeted employees of which 1,842 are Deputy Proba- tion Officers, and as of June 30, 1973 there were 15,051 juveniles and 51,968 adults under probation supervision. The Department operates 4 Field Service Divisions having 17 area offices and 4 specialized offices, 3 Juvenile Halls with detention facilities, 9 camps for boys, 1 girls' school and the Administrative Services Division. The Field Service Division perform two primary functions for both children and adults; they are: Investigation to determine the need for Court action as to disposition of the case. Supervision by Deputy Probation Officers of individuals place on probation by the court. Two of the Juvenile Detention Facilities provide detention, care and treatment of delinquent juveniles, while the third provides such services for dependent and neglected children. A fourth facility, San Fernando Valley Juvenile Hall, was destroyed in the earthquake of February 9, 1971 and has not been replaced to date. Although efforts are being made for both temporary and permanent replacement by the Real Estate Management Department and the Capital Projects Division of the CAO's office re- spectively, it should be noted that over 2-1/2 years have elapsed. The two halls housing delinquent juveniles have a combined capacity of 837 beds, and as of June 30, 1973 the population had increased to 1,149 beds, or 37% over-capacity. In April 1973, the Board of Supervisors approved a master plan of expansion, and to strengthen security, which would: (a) increase capacity of the two halls by 91 beds in 1975 and an additional 411 beds in 1977, (b) provide 200 beds by 1975 for the third hall housing dependent and neglected children, (c) authorize other local facilities for detention of hard-core offenders and (d) replace boys' residence buildings at Central Juvenile Hall by 1976. Based upon the proposals of the Ad Hoc Committee on Delinquency Prevention and Community Action Planning, the Board of Supervisors on April 7, 1973 approved the creation of a new Department of Human Services. This proposal involved the merger of several County departments, including Probation, and was approved at that time by all of the department heads. Subsequently, the original plan became a matter of concern in certain areas. As a result, the Board of Supervisors referred the matter back to the Ad Hoc Committee for further study. The Audit Committee feels that delinquency prevention (both adult and juvenile) should be a vital part of the objectives and activities of the Probation Department, and that these activities should be co- ordinated with all departments involved in the County. The following is a summary of revenues and expenditures of the Probation Department for the three years ended June 30, 1973: Year Ended June 30, 1971 1973 1972 Revenues: State aid $ 8,836,803 $ 8,673,852 $10,007,555 Federal aid 306,285 446,640 361,388 Forfeitures, penalties and other 1,811,957 1,810,320 1,935,581 10,790,457 11,095,400 12,304,524 Expenditures (less reimburse- ments by other County departments) 50,057,753 52,504,865 49,786,314 Excess of expenditures over $38,962,353 $41,714,408 $37,481,790 revenue The Scope of the examination by the Contract Auditor was confined to administrative and program services, personnel and payroll, appropriations and expenditures, area offices, facilities operations and data processing. The criteria employed by the Department to measure its effectiveness appear to be quantitative, such as the percentage of occupancy of detention facilities, or the number of cases handled during a period. A committee has been formed within the department to develop a measurement program; however qualitative standards have not been de- veloped. It is the opinion of the Contract Auditor that this program should be developed and implemented, and that qualitative as well as quantitative standards be included therein. The Audit Committee feels that the department's stated major objective of rehabilita- tion is most important, but that a tremendous contribution to delinquency prevention can and should be made by the Probation Department. Attitude changes as well as training will be required within the Department to implement this objective. 29