Public Records Requests | Department for Children and Families (2024)

The Vermont General Assembly has established guidelines that facilitate access to public records.

Any document produced or acquired in the course of doing state business is a public record and may be subject to public disclosure, unless specifically exempted by law.

Foster Care Records

H.644 of 2024(An act relating to access to records by individuals who were in foster care) was signed by Governor Phil Scott on Wednesday, June 12, 2024.

We are working on implementation efforts and hope to have an online form for records requests soon. Until then, please contact us atAHS.DCFYouthRecords@vermont.gov if you would like to submit a records request allowable through H.644.

We will respond via encrypted email and ask you for the information below. This will assist us in locating your records, but you are not required to have this information to submit a request.

• Full name (and alternative names if there are any)
• Date of birth
• The years you were in the care, custody, or protection of DCF
• The town or county where you resided or the DCF District Office
• The firstyear you were no longerin the care, custody, or protection of DCF
• Whether you exited DCFinvolvement dueto reunification, adoption, guardianship, or at age 18
• The year you last received a monthly stipend from DCF (if applicable)
• The name of your last known caregiver
• Your parent or guardian prior to care, custody, or protection

The amount of time to complete the request will depend on the number of requests received upon passage of H.644 and staff capacity. We will be in contact with you through theAHS.DCFYouthRecords@vermont.govshared inbox and work as quickly as possible to fulfill requests.

Records Exempt from Disclosure

While the Department for Children and Families strongly favors access to public documents and records, exceptions to that general policy of disclosure are listed in 1 V.S.A. § 317(c).

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Documents that are confidential by law
• Documents containing certain types of personal or financial information about individuals
• Documents recognized as being privileged
• Document that by law may only be disclosed to specifically designated persons
• Documents relevant to active litigation
• The names of, or information pertaining to, individuals involved with the department (e.g., whether an individual is getting or has ever received economic benefits through the department)

Requesting Your Records

Below are the contacts for personal records:

• AdoptionRecords: For adoptions finalized in Vermont, contact the Vermont Adoption Registryat (802) 241-0906 orChristina.Shuma@partner.vermont.gov.
  
• Benefits Records: If you are requesting records related to an individual's receipt of Economic Services Division benefits, please email ahs.dcfesdasu@vermont.gov.
  
• Child Protection Records:Please contact theFamily Services District Office your family was involved with.

  If you are a child protection agency from another state seeking a family's records, contactDeputy Compact Administrator,Patricia.Casanova@vermont.gov. All requests must be sent on agency letterhead and include: name, DOB andreason for the agency's request.
  

• Child Support Records:Please contact the Regional Child Support Office you are working with or emailOCSCSU@vermont.gov.
  
• Foster Care Records:Please see above.

Requesting Public Records

DCF will respond to your request within three business days of receiving it unless there are unusual circ*mstances per1 V.S.A. § 318. Unusual circ*mstances may result in an extension, upon written notice, of up to 10 business days from receipt of your request.

Fees for Obtaining a Copy of a Public Record

DCF will charge fees for providing a copy of a public record per the rule adopted by the Secretary of State as set forth below.

• Staff time involved in physically duplicating a record: $.33 per minute after the first 30 minutes
• Senior-level staff time and IT specialists’ time spent extracting data from databases or performing similar tasks necessary to comply with a request to create a new public record: $.57 per minute
• Other staff time for which cost can be charged and collected under this section: $.45 per minute
• Photocopies: $.05 per single-sided page, $.09 per double-sided page for pages up to 8.5 by 14 inches
• Color photocopies: $1.00 per single-sided page
• Computer-generated paper copies: $.02 per page for pages up to 8.5 by 14 inches
• Computer diskettes: $.28 each for 3.5-inch diskettes
• Compact discs: $.86 each for write-once CD w/case, $2.31 each for re-writable CD w/case
• Audio tapes: $.81 each
• Video tapes: $1.69 each
• DVDs: $2.00 each for write-once DVD w/case, $4.00 each for re-writable DVD w/case

*Note: there are fees for copies of public records that are established by statute that may override the fees established by this schedule.

Appeal Process

If you believe you were wrongly denied a request for public records, you may write to: Public Records Requests, DCF Commissioner's Office, 280 State Drive, HC1 North, Waterbury, VT 05671-1080.

For More Information

• Public Records Page on the Secretary of State's website
• Public Information Page on the Agency of Administration's website
• Public Records Request Policy on the Agency of Human Services' website
• The Vermont Statute related to public records access

The following sub-sections outline additional considerations of the law:

• § 317. Definitions; public agency; public records and documents
• § 317a. Disposition of public records
• § 318. Procedure
• § 319. Enforcement