Oklahoma Youth Pay to Stay Policy
| Submitted | Dec. 21, 2022 |
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Communications
From: Elijah Salisbury
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Oklahoma Open Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
1) All current policies and procedures regarding medical and room & board costs or fees for which incarcerated youth (i.e. juvenile) and/or their parents or legal guardians are or may become liable. Please include all policies and procedures related to how fees are set, accrued, imposed, collected, and enforced (such as those related to per diem fees, ability to pay determinations, penalties for late or non-payment, authorization for civil or criminal action for payment enforcement, etc).
2) All reports, databases, spreadsheets, or equivalent materials regarding debts/restitution paid to or owed to this department/office or any facility/agency under its jurisdiction in FY2021. Please include all relevant data regarding medical and room & board costs, including the number of youths (i.e., juveniles) charged for medical and room & board costs or fees and the total amount of medical and room & board fees imposed in FY2021.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
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.
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.
Sincerely,
Elijah Salisbury
From: Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Your request under the Oklahoma Open Records Act has been received by the Department. Efforts have been initiated to determine whether any records responsive to this request exist that are in the Department's possession, custody, or control.
Thank you,
Ron Baze
General Counsel
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~WRD086
From: Oklahoma Department of Human Services
In response to your inquiries below, the Department of Human Services has conducted a good faith review and has determined there are no records within its possession, custody, or control that would be considered responsive to these requests. If you believe otherwise, you are welcome to revise or clarify your requests and we will address this as a supplemented request for records. Otherwise, we will consider this specific request closed,
Thank you,
Ron Baze
General Counsel, Oklahoma Department of Human Services
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~WRD000
From: Elijah Salisbury
Dear Ron Baze,
Thank you for taking the time to address my request for records. I noticed that you stated there are no records available for room & board or medical fees imposed on youth or their parents/legal guardians within the Department of Human Service's possesion. However, I've found additional statutory language regarding these fees and were hoping you would be able to help clarify the possible discrepancy. Specifically the statute language listed below:
10A OK Stat § 10A-1-4-701 "Upon notice to the parent or other person legally obligated to support the child and upon an opportunity to be heard and a finding of financial ability to pay, the court may order the parent or other person to:
1. Reimburse the Department of Human Services, in whole or in part, for any costs and expenses incurred by the Department in providing any services or authorizing actions taken pursuant to the Oklahoma Children's Code for the child including, but not limited to, all or some part of placement services, medical care and mental health services of a child, as authorized by law"
Thank you in advance for taking the time to assist us in this matter
Sincerely,
Elijah Salisbury
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Oklahoma Open Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 21, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Oklahoma Department of Human Services
We are continuing efforts to respond to your supplemental inquiry.
Thank you,
Ron Baze
General Counsel, DHS
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~WRD000
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Oklahoma Open Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Dec. 21, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Oklahoma Department of Human Services
Our efforts continue to determine whether responsive records exist.
Thank you,
Ron Baze
-
~WRD000
From: Oklahoma Department of Human Services
In response to your inquiry below, an assessment has been conducted into your request. Specifically, you appear to aver the statutory provision 10A OK Stat § 10A-1-4-701 constitutes a fee by which the Department of Human Services assesses to collect room & board or medical fees imposed on youth or their parents/legal guardians…” The Department would assert the imposition of court ordered child support does not constitute a fee imposed by the Department. With that said, however, the attached document does reflect two de-identified cases in which the Department was able to locate and determine it received collected moneys from a child support order imposed by the court for a child in the custody of the Department. Those funds are placed into a trust/guardianship account to pay expenses on the child’s behalf.
For purposes of this current request, we will consider it closed. If you have additional inquiries, however, please feel free to reach back out.
Thank you,
Ron Baze
General Counsel, Oklahoma DHS
