The report by the California State Auditor, released Thursday, focused on three Central California facilities that house incarcerated or institutionalized individuals, or those deemed incompetent to stand trial: Salinas Valley State Prison, Porterville Developmental Center, and Atascadero State Hospital. Each is run separately by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Department of Developmental Services, and the Department of State Hospitals.
In addition, the audit concluded that the departments have inadequate oversight of staffing minimums and have failed to maintain mandated medical and mental health services, costing the departments millions of dollars in litigation and fines. In 2023, the State was ordered to pay monthly fines for noncompliance with mandated mental health staffing levels, and as of 2025, CDCR had incurred more than $95 million in accumulated fines, according to the report. Both DDS and DSH have also been involved in litigation for failing to provide adequate mental health staffing, the report said.
Despite the reliance on temporary workers, the high vacancy rates have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in budget savings for the state. Between fiscal years 2019-20 and 2024-25, the facilities realized approximately $592 million in combined savings from unfilled positions. Atascadero alone saved about $247 million, while Salinas Valley saved $188 million and Porterville saved $157 million.
Among the recommendations the auditor's office made was having the Legislature consider mandating a statewide, cross-agency campaign to recruit medical and mental health professionals into civil service. All three departments were also urged to immediately require facilities to report when minimum shift-staffing levels are not met, and DSH and DDS were tasked with improving their budgeting processes to accurately reflect facility needs.
The report also noted that CDCR and DSH agreed with the audit's findings and recommendations, while DDS generally concurred but disagreed with the recommendation on reporting shift-staffing shortfalls.
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