Health and mental healthcare and juvenile justice (Tennessee Department Of Children's Services - Office Of Juvenile Justice)

To Whom It May Concern,

This is a request for records under your state public records law. I am requesting copies of public records regarding health and behavioural health service delivery in youth correctional facilities in your jurisdiction, to inform a comparative research project regarding health and mental health care delivery in juvenile detention facilities across the US. Specifically, I request information regarding the following:
1. Name and contact details for those responsible for health and behavioural health services provisions at all locations where juveniles are incarcerated within your jurisdiction.
2. Regulations, policies and procedures that govern the operation of health and behavioral health provision for juveniles incarcerated within your jurisdiction. This includes health intake, room confinement, medication management, access to specialist and dental services, discharge planning services, and other health and behavioral health related policies.
3. Contracts from January 1, 2021 to the time the request is filled between your agency and any healthcare provider including both physical health and behavioral health.
4. Records concerning your jurisdiction’s most recent application to Centre for Medicaid Services (CMS) for an 1115 Medicaid waiver (if applicable), and any response, with specifically focus on how and whether such a waiver applies to provision of Medicaid funded services for detained juveniles.
5. Records relating to financing for health and behavioural health care delivery in your jurisdiction.

I request the records be provided electronically. If there are any fees for searching or copying these records, please inform me. However, I would also like to request a waiver of all fees in that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest and will contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of the administration of juvenile justice. This information is not being sought for commercial purposes.

If access to the records I am requesting will take longer than allowed by statute, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies of the requested records.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Thank you for considering my request.

Sincerely,

Tess Kelly
Fellow, Harvard FXB Centre for Health and Human Rights

Joshua Dankoff
Director of Strategic Initiatives
Citizens for Juvenile Justice
617.338.1050