INTRODUCTION

Committee Focus:

Identify and prioritize areas of inquiry which appear to present hazards to citizens' health, instances of waste of taxpayers' money, inefficiency in county operations, and/or fraud or malfeasance by elected officials or government agencies. The sources of such topics include Grand Jury members, Board of Supervisors requests, the various news media, referral from other committees of the present Grand Jury, and the responses to the recommendations contained in previous Grand Jury Final Reports. From these sources the Committee on Health and Human Services selected three subjects for investigation, and each will be dealt with in the three major sections of this report.

Reports:

The first is the report of an extensive, though not exhaustive operational audit, focusing on the Fraud Prevention and Investigation Functions of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS).

The second report explores the availability, adequacy, and timeliness of Emergency Medical Services of the Los Angeles County, specifically Hospital Emergency Departments and Ambulance Services.

The third deals with the inspection process of Food Service Facilities (Restaurants and Food Markets).