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BRN enforcement, investigations and intervention staff report staffing, caseload and vendor transition updates
Summary
Enforcement and investigations staff briefed the EIIC on caseload trends, a budget concept to add analyst positions, reorganization of citation handling, and the transition to a new intervention vendor, Premier Health.
Enforcement, investigations and intervention staff for the California Board of Registered Nursing provided a series of informational updates to the Enforcement, Investigations and Intervention Committee covering workload, staffing, vendor transitions and program operations.
Highlights from staff: - Investigations: Deputy Chief Nicole Bowles said investigators are carrying elevated caseloads; a workload analysis supports a budget concept to request four additional investigations analyst positions. Investigations reported receiving 109 cases in February 2025 and continues to recruit for central California and limited‑term investigators. - Discipline and citations: Enforcement Division Chief Shannon Johnson said about 14% of discipline cases were pending at the Attorney General's office for more than a year as of March 5; the site and fine (citation) function was recently moved under the discipline unit to better align processes. - Probation and participant materials: Probation staff are finalizing participant FAQs and an informational video for licensees; staff said those materials will be posted when complete and that enforcement and intervention emails will remain channels for follow‑up questions. - Intervention program vendor transition: The BRN's Maximus contract expired Dec. 31; the board awarded a new contract to Premier Health. Staff reported ongoing work with Premier and DCA's other healer‑art boards to complete the transition, and said weekly meetings are in place to address early operational gaps — notably some clinical diagnostic evaluation reports returned by the vendor that IEC members found insufficient for decision making. Staff said Premier is revising materials and the board is monitoring to ensure IECs receive usable, timely evaluations.
Board actions and planning: staff said they will propose adding up to five additional Intervention Evaluation Committees (IECs) as authorized at the February board meeting and are preparing candidate applications for IEC vacancies and reappointments. Staff also said they plan to send enforcement and intervention staff to a national disciplinary/intervention conference in California to support program improvement. Investigations staff emphasized that any budget request to add personnel must pass DCA and the legislative review process before positions can be filled.
Why it matters: staff told the committee that caseload growth and aging investigations are driving the need for more analyst staffing; the vendor transition affects large numbers of participants and IEC workload; and improved public materials aim to reduce confusion among participants and stakeholders.
Next steps: staff will bring updated charts (including percentage metrics against licensee population on request), continue recruitment and present any formal budget change proposals through DCA.
