Boston Globe Child Fatality Data Request (Swain Cty, NC)
| Submitted | Aug. 25, 2017 |
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Communications
From: Jessica Huseman
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to North Carolina Public Records Law (G.S. §§ 132-1 through 132-10), I hereby request the following documents:
I am requesting access to records regarding child abuse and neglect which resulted in a child fatality from Jan. 1, 2011 to present.
Because your state receives funds from CAPTA and has attested that it is CAPTA compliant, these records should be collected and in a readily accessible format. Section 106(b)(2)(B)(x) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act requires states to publicly disclose the following in each case of a child fatality or near fatality:
• The cause and circumstances regarding the fatality or near fatality
• The age and gender of the child
• Information describing any previous reports or child abuse or neglect investigations that are pertinent to the child abuse or neglect that led to the fatality or near fatality.
• The result of any such investigations.
• The services provided by and the actions of the State on behalf of the child that are pertinent to the child abuse or neglect that led to the fatality or near fatality.
I am requesting access to this information for each child fatality in the time frame referenced, preferably in preferably in machine-readable format, such as Microsoft Excel or a comma delimited text file. These records should not be aggregate data, but instead broken out for each individual child fatality.
Because your county is already required by federal law to maintain these records and make them available for public requests, and because I am a reporter and this request is being made as part of a newsgathering effort and not for commercial use, I request all fees associated with this request be waived.
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 would request your response within ten (10) business days.
Sincerely,
Jessica Huseman
From: Sheila Sutton
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Public Records Law Request: Boston Globe Child Fatality Data Request (
From: Sheila Sutton
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Public Records Law Request: Boston Globe Child Fatality Data Request (
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 25, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Sheila Sutton
Good morning,
I have submitted your request to our legal department for further evaluation. Our attorney, Kristy Parton, sent a response to the reporter, Jessica Huseman last week. I will forward this email on to her and the Interim Director of Health and Human Services. We have every intention of complying with the record request, however we want to make sure we are adhering to our State protocol.
Thank you,
Sheila D. Sutton, MSW
Director, Swain DSS
Office: 828 488-6921
Fax: 828 488-8271
Cell: 828 736-1766
sheila.sutton@swain<mailto:sheila.sutton@swaindss.org>countync.gov
NOTICE: Please be advised that this electronic mail transmission, along with any other electronic mail transmissions for which I am the recipient, is subject to disclosure in accordance with the North Carolina Public Records Act, N.C.G.S. 132-1 et. seq. unless the information contained therein falls within one of the limited number of exceptions to the North Carolina Public Records Act. Before transmitting any personal information or any information which you deem confidential, please consider that the contents of your electronic transmission, and my responses thereto, will be subject to disclosure to any and all persons, including the media, who may request a copy of my e-mails.
From: K P
Dear Ms. Huseman:
I have previously attempted to reply to this request. I am not certain why
you did not receive my response, which I sent on August 31.
I am the attorney for Swain DSS. We are happy to comply with your request;
however, as this is our first time dealing with this type of request, we
have had to seek some guidance from our state attorney general's office.
In North Carolina, these requests are ruled by N.C.G.S. s. 7B-2902. I'm
attaching a copy of that statute.
The statute does not state in which manner we are required to provide the
requested information. I am not comfortable providing this type of
information, which I consider sensitive, though not confidential, through
email or through a third party. We would prefer to provide this information
by CD that we can mail directly to you, certified mail. If that works for
you, please provide us with an appropriate physical mailing address. If
not, please contact me so that we can work out an arrangement that we are
both comfortable with.
With kindest regards,
Kristy L. Parton
Attorney at Law
P.O. Box 944
Sylva, NC 28779
828-586-4247 <(828)%20586-4247> (office)
828-506-2569 <(828)%20506-2569> (cell)
--
Confidentiality Notice
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended
solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.
This communication should not be disseminated to unauthorized recipients.
If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you are
not authorized to read, print, retain, copy, or disseminate this message,
any part of it, or any attachments. If you have received this email in
error please delete the message in its entirety and immediately notify
sender at (828) 586-4247 or by email at klparton@gmail.com.
From: Jessica Huseman
Thanks, Kristy.
You are welcome to send this to me on a CD, if that makes you more comfortable:
Jessica Huseman
155 Avenue of the Americas
13th Floor
New York, NY 10013
From: Kevin S. King
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RE: Public Records Law Request: Boston Globe Child Fatality Data Reque
From: MuckRock
Thanks, Kristy.
You are welcome to send this to me on a CD, if that makes you more comfortable:
Jessica Huseman
155 Avenue of the Americas
13th Floor
New York, NY 10013
From: Kevin S. King
Your email to Kevin S. King <k_king@swaincountync.gov> is almost there!
We need to verify your email address.
Click the link below to instantly become a trusted sender.
Thanks for your email. Swain County is using Sendio's Opt-Inbox™ technology to ensure they do not receive unwanted email. Verifying your email address will ensure that all future email from bounce+802fab.556-k_king=requests@muckrock.com will be delivered directly to Kevin S. King's inbox without delay.
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RE: Public Records Law Request: Boston Globe Child Fatality Data Reque
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