Public Records Request Log - Utah Department of Human Services

Erik -

I apologize for the delay. Your request was sent to my predecessors email
(no longer with the Department), and recently discovered.

I have researched your request for the Utah Dept of Human Services and we
do not have a log of public records requests, nor do any of our divisions.
We have found in the interest of customer service and efficiency that when
someone contacts us desiring information, we answer that request without a
formal process, as long as the information is not protected or
confidential. We have not given the public an expectation that the records
requests would not be shared either, which could cause conflicts with an
expectation of privacy.

In my poll of constituent services agents, they said they don't receive
many formal public records requests each year, and they are able to just
help them as they would a customer service call. No paperwork or form. Most
questions are just handled on the spot or via information publicly shared
on our website, which has a vast amount of services and data - hs.utah.gov.
There are some that are referred to the GRAMA process, but those too are
not logged by the agents, but handled as they come in through the process.
Of course those requests are confidential as they deal with specific cases
and individual records.

Your request has prompted us to discuss the matter further. Like, should we
put on our website and voicemail that all requests are subject to be shared
publicly? Should there be a formal request form? Our concern with that is
that those who need our critical services may not be open to asking for
help if we make it too arduous. In Human Services, our primary goal is to
quickly connect people to the information and help they need.

We hope you will put our website on muckrock.com as a source of most of the
information the public may need so that we can be of assistance to Utahns.

Thank you.

*Heather G. Barnum*
Communications Director
O: 801.538.3991 C: 801.520.2777
hgbarnum@utah.gov <hgbarnum@utah.gov>
hs.utah.gov
@UTHumanServices

Please note, I am available remotely on Fridays.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Elizabeth Sollis (DHS) <liz@utah.gov>
Date: Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 9:11 AM
Subject: Fwd: Freedom of Information Request: Public Records Request Log -
Utah Department of Human Services
To: Heather Barnum DHS <hgbarnum@utah.gov>

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 3:00 AM
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Request: Public Records Request Log -
Utah Department of Human Services
To: esollis@utah.gov

June 22, 2015
Department of Human Services
Utah Department of Human Services
195 North 1950 West
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116

This is a follow up to a previous request:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request,
copied below, and originally submitted on June 5, 2015. Please let me know
when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is
needed.

Thank you for your help.

---
On June 5, 2015:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Utah’s Government Records Access and Management Act (“GRAMA”),
I hereby request the following records:

A log of public records requests submitted to the Department of Human
Services that lists the date of request, the requester's name, the
requester's organizational affiliation, a description of the request and
the date the request was filled. Ideally I would like this information for
the period from 2004 to the present.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public free
of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, and is
made in the process of academic research and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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.

Sincerely,

Erik Peterson
PhD Candidate
Department of Political Science
Stanford University

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 18273
PO Box 55819
Boston, MA 02205-5819

PLEASE NOTE the new address as well as the fact that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than MuckRock News) requests might
be returned by the USPS as undeliverable.