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November 9, 2012 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services, Hon. Holly J. Mitchell, Chair
October 23, 2012 - Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services, Hon. Mark DeSaulnier, Chair and Senate Human Services Committee, Hon. Carol Liu, Chair
May 25, 2012 - Presented to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services, Hon. Holly J. Mitchell, Chair
May 22, 2012 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety and the Judiciary, Hon. Loni Hancock, Chair.
May 2, 2012 - Presented to: Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services Hon. Holly J. Mitchell, Chair
May 1, 2012 - Presented to: Assembly Health Committee, Hon. William W. Monning, Chair and Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, Hon. Henry T. Perea, Chair
April 30, 2012 - The FI$Cal project recently completed a procurement and selected the vendor who will build FI$Cal, the state's single, fully integrated financial information system. Project staff has submitted several documents to the Legislature, including a special project report that updates the project plans, a report to the legislature that includes information on the procurement, and a budget request for $89 million ($54 million General Fund) and 86 new positions in order to begin the first year of system development. This report (24 pages): (1) provides an extensive background on the project; (2) describes the innovative procurement process that state staff conducted to secure vendor services to build the FI$Cal system, including information on the procurement results; (3) reviews the FI$Cal project plans as explained in project documents; and (4) analyzes features of the project’s proposed plans and offers recommendations to the Legislature as it considers the budget request and the future of the system. Based upon our analysis of the proposed plans and review of project status, we believe that the benefits of proceeding with FI$Cal development at this time outweigh the costs of the project. In addition to the inherent benefits derived from having a modern, fully integrated financial information system for the state, proceeding with FI$Cal would also avoid substantial costs associated with replacing various individual financial management systems over the next several years. However, we recognize the tight budget times requiring the Legislature to make difficult decisions regarding programmatic reductions. Therefore, should the Legislature wish to proceed with the project, we offer alternative funding options that reduce the state’s reliance on General Fund monies to pay for the project in the short term. These options include the state's GS $Mart loan program, vendor financing, and advanced payments from the special funds for the first few years of system development. Additionally, we point out ways the project’s change management and staffing plans to implement FI$Cal statewide could be improved to reduce risk and maximize project benefits.
April 11, 2012 - Presented to Assembly Accountability and Administrative Review Committee, Hon. Roger Dickinson, Chair
March 27, 2012 - Presented to Senate Human Services Committee, Hon. Carol Liu, Chair
March 19, 2012 - The In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) program—administered at the state level by the Department of Social Services (DSS)—provides in-home care for persons who cannot safely remain in their own homes without such assistance. Since 2009-10, the IHSS program has experienced significant budget-related changes intended to achieve General Fund savings. As part of the 2012-13 budget, the Governor proposes significant changes to the IHSS program. First, the Governor proposes to transition IHSS from a fee-for-service benefit to a managed care benefit. In addition, the Governor proposes to eliminate domestic and related care services for most IHSS recipients who live with another person. We find that this reduction presents significant legal and implementation challenges, and we therefore offer the Legislature two savings alternatives for its consideration. The first alternative is to consider extending a 3.6 percent across-the-board reduction in service hours that is set to expire at the end of the current year. The second alternative is to consider reenacting a reduction in state participation in provider wages to a level, determined by a study, that does not impact recipient access to services.
March 8, 2012 - Presented to: Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration and General Government, Hon. Gloria Negrete McLeod, Chair
March 7, 2012 - Presented to Joint Oversight Hearing on Long-Term Care Integration and Medi-Cal Managed Care, Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services and Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care
March 7, 2012 - Presented to Joint Oversight Hearing on Long-Term Care Integration and Medi-Cal Managed Care, Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services and Assembly Committee on Aging and Long-Term Care
March 1, 2012 - The Governor’s budget plan proposes to eliminate DMH and create a new Department of State Hospitals (DSH), shifting the remaining community mental health programs to various departments. This new structure would allow the administration to better focus on the fiscal and programmatic issues unique to state hospitals. In 2008-09, the Office of State Audits and Evaluations (OSAE) conducted an audit which outlined the problems state hospitals experienced, concluding that staffing did not adequately reflect hospital workload, funding was not sufficient for annual operating expenditures, and that state hospitals were not efficiently using their staff. Similarly in a 2011 self-audit, DMH found that many of the same problems from the 2008 audit remained. We concur with both audit teams’ assessments. In this brief report, therefore, we recommend an audit be conducted that looks at a number of issues, including state hospital budgeting practices, the fiscal controls being put in place, and the level of vacancies and their impact on the state budget and on hospital performance. We recommend this added oversight with respect to state hospitals should take place regardless of the Legislature’s decision on the creation of a new DSH.
March 1, 2012 - Over the three-year period from 2009-10 to 2011-12, the Department of Developmental Services’ (DDS) General Fund spending has remained relatively flat. This has been the case in spite of rapidly growing caseloads and other cost pressures. In this brief, we discuss the measures adopted by the Legislature over these three years to reduce General Fund costs in both Developmental Centers (DCs) and Regional Centers (RCs).