Criminal Justice Reengineering the San Mateo County Coroner's Department Recommendation #6: In keeping with the coroner's own "Objective Based Management" objective in the 2001-2002 Adopted Budget, the County Board of Supervisors should direct the Crime Lab and the Coroner's Department to work together to save money, for example, by conducting the coroner's toxicological testing at the crime lab. Response: Agree/Disagree. The Administrative and Investigative Units of the Coroner's Office are moving to the new Crime Lab facility when construction is complete in March, 2003. This move will encourage closer collaboration and better utilization of crime lab facilities while saving money on rent. However, the recommendation that the Coroner's Office utilize the crime lab for all toxicology testing is not feasible at this time. The Crime Lab does not have the equipment or staffing resources to conduct the quantitative levels of testing required for Coroner's Office toxicology testing, which is greater than standard testing used for crime scene analysis. The cost of adding and maintaining new toxicology equipment together with the increased personnel costs associated with doing this level of testing makes the existing contract a better option. Status:
Recommendation #7: As a priority, to enhance the office's technical capability and make it equivalent to other modern urban county coroner's offices, the Board of Supervisors should undertake a study of placing a medical examiner in the position of coroner. Such a study should be started well in advance of the end of the current coroner's term in order to allow ample time to make any legal modifications necessary to effect this change. Response: Disagree. Currently in California there are no counties with an elected licensed physician medical examiner. The San Mateo County Coroner's Office currently contracts with two Board-certified Forensic Pathologists to make medical determinations regarding cause of death in autopsy cases. The recommendation to change the current structure would require San Mateo County voters to amend the County charter. The voters have twice opted to keep the position of Coroner elected. In addition, a study designed to look cost effectiveness of a Medical Examiner versus a Coroner, found that a Medical Examiner was more expensive. Status: HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY
Human Services Agency Client Benefits Accountability Recommendation #1: HSA should clearly describe in its budget the relationship between its clients' needs, its client benefits, and the funding sources, so that the budget: (a) serves HSA's goal of a communication device, and (b) allows the public and its elected representatives to readily determine whether HSA is providing services in an efficient and effective manner. Response: Disagree. The Human Services Agency administers over 125 different programs encompassing over 175 different funding sources. In addition, the Agency often leverages funding from several sources and/or partners with other agencies in order to provide programs to fit client needs not normally addressed by categorical funding. Attempting to describe in the budget document the complex relationships of funding sources to programs and their further relationships to client services and needs would result in a massive document. This would be counter productive in meeting the County goal of focusing on client outcomes and allocating limited resources to improve performance. HSA has attempted to help the public understand its programs and services by simplifying this complex fabric of programs, services and funding sources into three major Program Outcome Areas: Community Capacity Building, Economic Self-Sufficiency and Family Strength with a fourth area encompassing services that provide internal support to these Program Outcome Areas. Included in the budget are a Resource Allocation Summary, Funding Adjustments and Performance Measures for each Program Outcome Area along with narratives regarding baseline performance and priorities to improve performance. The Grand Jury report also states that Outcome Based Management (OBM) objectives show no apparent link to budget line items. In fact, for each Program Outcome Area the outcomes and performance measures described in the budget are directly addressed by the priorities and strategies outlined in the section entitled, "What Will Be Done to Improve Performance in the Next Two Years". Those strategies are, in turn, linked to the items listed in the section entitled "FY 2002-03 Funding Adjustments". In this way, a direct link is drawn from specific funding initiatives back to the strategies and ultimately the outcomes they are intended to achieve. Finally, the Human Services Agency has chosen to break out of traditional categorical thinking which focuses on single-track funding and process measurement and instead take a holistic approach in creating programs and services which measure outcomes to meet the needs of children, families and individuals in San Mateo County. As Outcome Based Management is implemented throughout the County, improvements will continue to be made in the budget presentation, and HSA will work within the Countywide format to make its budget as easily and readily understandable as possible.
Recommendation #2: HSA should continue to upgrade its computer systems to make its financial information more readily understandable. Response: Agree. The computer systems referred to in the Grand Jury report are not controlled by HSA but are State and Countywide systems. Some of these systems are aged and are due to be replaced. The Agency is involved in those processes. HSA focuses considerable resources on keeping its computer hardware and software state-of-the-art and the Agency has developed a number of technological innovations such as SMART (a relational database application used by HSA and its partners for service delivery, caseload management and tracking) in order to get more and better data from existing systems than would normally be possible. However, no system can capture data in a manner that addresses every possible inquiry. In situations where inquiries for data cannot be readily obtained from the systems available, HSA devises other processes for doing so. This can be both labor intensive and time consuming. In order to minimize these instances and to be able to report progress towards the goals and objectives developed within the context of Outcome Based Management (OBM), the Agency has developed a "Data Warehouse" which will allow for the integration of data from multiple systems and should greatly facilitate reporting of performance. It should be noted that HSA, along with the rest of the County, utilizes the IFAS system provided by the Controller's Office for tracking and reporting financial information. This system is not intended to track cost for services by individual clients. While it may be possible to do so, the primary focus has been to capture costs for programs and services in a manner that facilitates claiming, and assures the agency is maximizing revenues from state, federal and other sources thereby minimizing costs to the County General Fund. There also needs to be clear distinction drawn as to the purposes of the various systems mentioned in the Grand Jury report. For example, in reference to the CalWIN program the report states, "The Grand Jury is concerned that the program will not facilitate an understanding of financial information nor allow one to determine client benefits." However, CalWIN is not a financial system but a statewide application used in the calculation and delivery of CalWORKs, Food Stamps, Medi-Cal and General Assistance benefits and therefore is not intended to provide nor to facilitate an understanding of financial information. Also in reference to CalWIN, the report further states, "The program appears planned from a management perspective with minimal input from front line employees who will actually be using the system." In actuality, a number of counties, including San Mateo, have provided line staff to the process who are considered Subject Matter Experts and whose task it is to test every capability of the system to assure it is functional and user friendly. The Human Services Agency will continue to upgrade its automation systems and to work in conjunction with other counties and the state to develop and implement new systems that improve and facilitate capturing and reporting of programmatic and financial performance data.
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT / PUBLIC WORKSHall of Justice Seismic Retrofit RECOMMENDATION 33: The San Mateo County 1999 Grand Jury recommends that the County Board of Supervisors direct the Director of Public Works to prepare a comprehensive time-phased plan for completion of the seismic retrofit and lead/asbestos abatement of the County Hall of Justice. Urgency should be placed on the development and implementation of the plan, including a detailed time-phased series of actions and the designation of personnel responsible for each action and associated deadlines. The plan should include details on office and employee relocation. The County Board of Supervisors should give high priority to implementation and funding of this program. STATUS: The contractor has completed the seismic retrofit of the 7th and 8th floors. The next phase of the project involves the seismic retrofit of the 5th floor. On June 25, 2002 a resolution was presented to the Board of Supervisors to adopt plans and specifications, determining wage scales and calling for sealed proposals. The tentative construction start date is September 2002. The Probation Department will vacate the 5th floor during construction.
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