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DCFS outlines progress and timelines to implement state audit recommendations; vacancies remain a focus
Summary
Michelle Love, DCFS director, told the Social Services Committee the county has created an Audit Implementation Task Force and is making progress on 15 auditor recommendations; hiring and contract changes are underway but the department reported roughly 73 vacant child-welfare positions (about a 26% vacancy rate) and several recommendations remain open with timelines into October 2026.
Michelle Love, director of the Alameda County Department of Children and Family Services, briefed the Social Services Committee on progress implementing the California State Auditor's report. The board directed regular updates and DCFS established an Audit Implementation Task Force to provide oversight, identify barriers and increase transparency.
Love and staff reviewed a series of recommendations from the 2024 audit that were reclassified into 15 discrete tasks. Several items are complete or partially complete (shadowing mandatory for new employees, documentation for timely services, sibling engagement provisions); others remain in progress with target completion dates stretching to October 2026 (review of referral impediments, emergency-response timelines, tracking of training and shelter-care policy readiness).
On recruitment and hiring, the department said it is conducting ongoing targeted outreach: participation in a California Title IV-E job fair, a Comcast advertising campaign in English/Spanish/Mandarin, and repeated exam rounds with planned dates through 2026. DCFS reported a vacancy picture that is improving from prior years but still material: a speaker provided a count of 73 vacant child-welfare positions out of 272 allocated positions (~26% vacancy rate). The department said continuous hiring and use of retired annuitants and temporary assistance personnel are being used to close gaps.
Key implementation points
- Governance: Task force established with board and state office engagement; monthly reports and biweekly meetings are planned to keep the process public and to identify barriers for state support. - Timelines: DCFS will submit a 6-month progress report (due March 23) and a 12-month response later in the year; several audit items have October 2026 target dates. - Recruitment: Outreach and advertising metrics were shared (tens of thousands of impressions in targeted Alameda County geographies); hiring funnels show application-to-offer conversion metrics and an ongoing schedule of exams.
Supervisors pressed the department to publish longer historical dashboards (pre-audit data through present) so the public and the task force can clearly track progress; DCFS staff said historical data exist and can be added to the public audit dashboard. Board members asked the department to coordinate with the task force to minimize duplication of staff time and to ensure the task force has timely information.
What happens next
DCFS will submit its six-month progress report in late March and continue monthly updates to the board; the department said it will add earlier-period data to the online audit dashboard and coordinate representation at task-force meetings to expedite state support where needed. No formal board action was taken at this meeting.
