Submittal to the Board of Supervisors County of Riverside, State of California Submittal Date:*

After a review of the current policies and procedures the Grand Jury finds that the Public Guardian does not have a policy regarding the maximum number of clients served per Public Guardian Deputy. Documentation provided by the Public Guardian department revealed that current caseloads varied from fifty- nine (59) to one hundred ninety six (196) per Public Guardian Deputy. Sworn testimony obtained from interviewees indicates that caseloads to be reduced so that each patients needs can be managed more efficiently. Public Guardian management needs to make this assessment. Response: Respondent disagrees partially with the finding The high caseloads were due in part to funded employees on extended leave of absences and reduction in staff due to budget cuts. Effective November 2012, the department has been successful in adding and filling two (2) full time Probate Deputies and two (2) full time LPS Deputy positions. Effective December 2013 another full time LPS Deputy position was added and is under recruitment. Department policies do not address the maximum caseload sizes per Deputy and the department acknowledges that reduced caseloads aid in managing the patients needs more efficiently. Additionally, there is no statewide policy for caseload standards established in California. In comparing Riverside County caseloads with similar counties (Orange, San Bernardino, Ventura, Alameda, and San Joaquin), Riverside County Public Guardian's average caseload is comparable or lower than those counties. The average active caseload for budgeted Public Guardian Deputies is now 69, the active caseload for Probate Deputies is 45.

Upon reviewing the policies and procedures of the Public Guardian, the Grand Jury found that the policies and procedures manual have not been updated since

Sworn testimony indicated that caseloads are unmanageable. It was revealed that there were tasks that additional clerical personnel could do that would free up the Public Guardian Deputies. Public Guardian Deputies stated that they must prioritize tasks, according to importance, and that consequently some tasks are left undone or delayed. Response: Respondent agrees with the finding In an effort to assist Public Guardian Deputies to manage their work load the department added and filled two (2) full time Office Assistant positions. These Office Assistants were hired by September 2013. Both positions support the Deputies with various tasks.

Testimony revealed that equipment such as ergonomic furniture, headphones, computers, software, and printers are outdated or inoperative for long periods of time. Response: Respondent disagrees partially with the finding Ergonomic equipment has been provided. Headphones are provided to employees with high volume calls. All staff are provided ergonomic task chairs. Computers and printers are updated and maintained by Riverside County Information Technology (RCIT) per County practices. Out of the 36 workstations 27 have functioning ergonomic keyboards and nine (9) are scheduled to have repairs or new keyboard trays installed.

According to Public Guardian management, the economic recession required a freeze on hiring but that has recently been suspended and additional staff are being hired to bring the Public Guardian staffing up to authorized levels. Sworn testimony from Public Guardian deputies indicated that when caseloads exceed sixty (60) patients the quality of service is compromised. Additional Testimony revealed that when Public Guardian Deputies complain about the loss of quality of services due to large caseloads, they are told, by supervisors to "do as much as you can." Response: Respondent agrees with the findings County budget cuts and the hiring freeze resulted in the reduction of four (4) Deputies, one (1) Investigator and one (1) Office Assistant position. By the end of 2013 all positions had been restored. In addition to the restored positions, due to caseload growth, one more Public Guardian position was added.

The Riverside County Public Guardian does not have a policy requiring staff meetings. At the time of this report sworn testimony indicated that there has not been a regular scheduled staff meeting with the Program Manager LPS/Probate staff since April 2013 Response: The respondent agrees with the finding It is department standard of practice to conduct regular staff meetings following established chain-of-command. The Public Guardian Program Administrator's practice was to meet monthly with all Public Guardian staff until meetings were disrupted due to facility move planning activities. These staff meetings resumed after the program moved to their new location.