Management Audit of Social Services Agency Administration and Support Services

137 Pages·2012·3.67 MB·English

Management Audit of Prepared for the
Board of
Supervisors of
Social Services Agency
the County of
Santa Clara by
Administration and
the
Management
Support Services Audit Division
County
Administration

Building
East Wing
th
10 Floor

70 W. Hedding St.
San Jose, CA
95110

[phone]
September 21,
2012

This Page Left Blank
County of Santa Clara

Board of Supervisors
County Government Center, East Wing
70 West Hedding Street
San Jose, California 95110-1770
[phone] FAX [phone] TDD 993-8272

MANAGEMENT AUDIT OF
SOCIAL SERVICES AGENCY (SSA)
ADMINISTRATION AND SUPPORT SERVICES
AUDIT SYNOPSIS
The purpose of the management audit was to examine the operations, management practices and finances of the
Social Services Agency’s administrative and support functions, and to identify opportunities to increase their
efficiency, effectiveness and economy. This report includes eight findings, and 36 recommendations, related to
facilities, printing, collections, General Assistance program polices, management of contracts, information
technology, and the organizational structure. If the County were to implement the report’s recommendations, at
least $3.8 million would be saved or generated every year going forward, with the vast bulk of the savings in the
General Fund.
KEY FINDINGS
• SSA has an excessive amount of leased warehouse space, which in 2012 amounted to about 43 square feet
for each of the Agency’s employees. A factor in the excessive warehouse space is the Agency’s practice of
storing equipment rather than deploying or disposing of it, as well as a lack of adequate record-keeping
and control over warehouse inventory. In addition, security at some facilities is lax, and there are no
policies related to warehouse operations.
• The County recently entered into a lease for SSA office space that will cost almost two times more than
the building, improvements and maintenance are worth, and associated improvements and related costs
were not properly planned, budgeted for or monitored by the Agency, resulting in an estimated $6.8
million in excess costs to the General Fund.
• SSA operates a Publishing Services function with two staff and four printer/copiers. Although SSA also
buys printing services from Central Printing Services, its use of that service has declined in recent years,
even though each copy is cheaper when published centrally rather than by SSA.
• SSA operates a unit to collect debts. As of June 30, 2011, the unit was working to collect an estimated $98
million worth of outstanding debt; this balance increased by 18 percent over the prior two fiscal years.
Efficient collection of these debts is hampered by large caseloads, the unit’s inability to accept many
common forms of payment, and its lack of a website.
• Both the annual G.A. benefit expenditures by the General Fund and the total outstanding debt are growing
rapidly, particularly for persons considered “employable.” Some counties have staff specifically assigned
to review and verify Social Services debts prior to forwarding the amounts to collections staff; Santa Clara
does not.
• As a result of weaknesses in contract management, the County has sometimes made payments and
expended monies due to SSA’s payment of invoices that were not supported with proper documentation.
• Despite the millions of dollars at stake, technology-related projects are currently carried out without the
benefit of an implemented strategic technology plan, without knowledge of total project costs (namely IS
staffing costs), and without collaboration on project prioritization amongst the Social Services Agency’s
client departments.
• SSA operates two helpdesks that support different systems but perform similar duties. The operation of
two separate helpdesks for one agency has resulted in excessive staffing.
A copy of the full report is available at:
http://www.sccgov.org/managementauditor
Mike Wasserman, George Shirakawa, Dave Cortese, Ken Yeager, Liz Kniss
Board of Supervisors:
Jeffrey V. Smith
County Executive: 2-060

Table of Contents

Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. i
Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1

Part I: Opportunities to Reduce Operating Costs
1. Leasing of Facilities and Warehouse/Facility Security ....................................................... 15
2. Central County Printing Services vs. Duplicative SSA Publishing Services ...................... 27

Part II: Opportunities to Improve Financial Management Practices
3. Improving SSA Collection Unit Practices ........................................................................... 41
4. Revising General Assistance Policies and Collection Procedures ...................................... 45
5. SSA Contract Management and Audits ............................................................................... 59

Part III: Opportunities to Improve Efficiency of Technology Services and
Project Planning
6. Improving Information Technology Project Planning and Management ............................ 77
7. Consolidating SSA CalWIN and Information Services....................................................... 83

Part IV: Improving the SSA Organization Structure
8. Consolidating Fragmented Administrative and Support Functions ................................... 99

Social Services Agency Response ....................................................................................... 105
Facilities and Fleet Department Response ........................................................................ 113