Good Afternoon,

 

The New Jersey Department of Children and Families is in receipt of your
OPRA request, seeking the following: Pursuant to the New Jersey Open
Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.), I hereby request the
following public records:

 

1. Copies of any and all complaints filed by members of the public
regarding the conduct or actions of employees of the Division of Child
Protection and Permanency (DCCP) in the last year.

 

2. Internal audits, performance evaluations, or investigations regarding
DCCP’s handling of cases involving threats of child removal or
intimidation tactics.

 

3. DCCP’s official policies and procedures concerning child removal and
handling complaints from parents or guardians.

 

 

As it relates to the first part of your request, your request for records
must be denied under OPRA. The Department can neither confirm nor deny the
existence of any such records regarding allegations or investigations of
child abuse, including Institutional Abuse records, due to their high
degree of confidentiality. N. Jersey Media Grp. v. Bergen Cnty.
Prosecutor’s Office, 447 N.J. Super. 182 (App. Div. 2016). The contents of
the Department’s investigative records and case files are confidential
under N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.10a, which provides that “all information obtained by
[the Department] in investigating such reports . . . shall be kept
confidential” and therefore exempt from OPRA.  (Effectuated by N.J.S.A.
47:1A-9(a), “[OPRA] shall not abrogate any exemption of a public record or
government record from public access heretofore made pursuant to . . . any
other statute.”)

 

Additionally, any personnel records are also exempt per law.

 

Lastly, Your request, which seeks policies and procedures concerning
“removal” in DCF’s possession, is also overbroad and improper because it
fails to identify specific records as removal is defined broadly. 
Government agencies are required to disclose identifiable government
records that are specifically described in the OPRA request. OPRA does not
permit open-ended searches of agency files, nor does the law allow a
request for every document an agency has on file in a specific subject
matter.  See N.J. Builders Assoc. v. N.J. Council on Affordable Hous., 390
N.J. Super. 166 (App. Div. 2007); MAG Entm’t, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic
Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005); Bent v. Stafford
Police Dep’t, 381 N.J. Super. 30 (App. Div. 2005).

 

DCF’s policies can be found here: [1]https://dcfpolicy.nj.gov/.

 

Also attached is a receipt closing this request.

Thank you.

 

 

OPRA Custodian

NJ Department of Children and Families

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Hammad Usmani <[OPRA #67740 email]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 8, 2024 2:45 PM
To: DCF OPRA Custodian [DCF] <[email address]>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] OPRA request - OPRA Request for Complaints, Policies,
and Internal Investigations Related to DCCP Conduct

 

Dear New Jersey Division of Children & Families,

 

Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA
and the common law right of access.  I am not required to fill out an
official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request
per NJSA 47:1A-6(f), which states that an email from a requestor including
all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place
of a completed form as a valid government record request.

 

I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New
Jersey, any other state, or the United States.

 

I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.

 

I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.

 

Records requested:

 

Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et
seq.), I hereby request the following public records:

 

1. Copies of any and all complaints filed by members of the public
regarding the conduct or actions of employees of the Division of Child
Protection and Permanency (DCCP) in the last year.

 

2. Internal audits, performance evaluations, or investigations regarding
DCCP’s handling of cases involving threats of child removal or
intimidation tactics.

 

3. DCCP’s official policies and procedures concerning child removal and
handling complaints from parents or guardians.

 

My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail
as attachments.  Please confirm you have received this request.  If you
are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person
and provide their email address to me for future reference.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Hammad Usmani

 

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Please deliver records electronically via email to the below UNIQUE
address for all replies to this request:

[2][OPRA #67740 email]

 

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Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will
be delayed.

 

If you find this service useful as an OPRA custodian, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's website.

 

"OPRAmachine’s mission is to give people easy and affordable access to New
Jersey public records.

For more information, contact us at: ‪(732) 707-1628 or PO Box 3180, New
Brunswick, NJ 08903."

 

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References

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