DMH JDP Diversion Dashboard Data

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Massachusetts Public Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

1. From the time period of January 1, 2018 to the date of this request, data on incidents and behavioral health crises that were responded to by police departments that received DMH JDP grants. Specifically, the data underlying the Tableau JDP Dashboard featured on the DMH website (https://www.mass.gov/info-details/jail-diversion-dashboard).

In particular, we request incident-level, line item data in CSV or excel format (or, if necessary another electronic format) that includes:

- Sex of individual(s) encountered

- Age range of individual(s) encountered

- Race of individual(s) encountered

- Ethnicity of individual(s) encountered

- Location of incident

- Time and date of incident

- Source of the field incident report (ie did this report come in via a 911 call, or other means)

- Outcome of incident, including if a charge was diverted and where was it diverted to

- If the individual was diverted from the ER

- Presenting problem of individual(s) encountered

- Substance use, if any, of individual(s) encountered

2. A blank copy (or screenshot) of the incident reporting form used by grantees.

3. Policies determining data reporting from grantees.

4.The Jail/Arrest Diversion Grant Program FY2020 Annual Report.

5. Where no such records in the above categories exist, please provide a written statement to that effect.

Disclosure of the requested policies and data is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute to public understanding of the intersection of school policing, immigration policy, and the juvenile justice system. To the extent there are the costs associated with the production of these documents, we request they be waived considering that we are a non-profit organization. Should you determine that some portions of the documents are exempt from disclosure, please release any reasonably segregable portions that are not exempt. In addition, please note for any such redactions the applicable statutory exemption and explain why it applies to the redacted or withheld information. In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Per Attorney Gen. v. Dist. Attorney for Plymouth Dist., 484 Mass. 260, 141 N.E.3d 429 (2020), compiling information from a database is not tantamount to creating a new record that would otherwise be precluded under public records law. Specifically: “Where public records are in electronic form, a public records request that requires a government entity to search its electronic database to extract requested data does not mean that the extracted data constitute the creation of a new record, which would not be required, under the public records law. " Id. at 442 to 443. Thus, we request that your department query its database and provide a response to data requests above.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Joshua Dankoff
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Citizens for Juvenile Justice

Dear Misael,
Thank you for the response. Could you please call the CfJJ office at 11am Thursday, 10/7? 617.338.1050. If this time does not work for you, please propose another time Thursday or Friday prior to 2:30pm.

Thank you,
Josh

Dear Misael,
Thanks for reaching out. I agree to the extension to 10/21. Thanks,
Josh