Referrals from mendham school 11/15/22 - 3-18-24
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:
All referrals made to DCPP (Morris or East) by Mendham Township Middle School On Lilah Vanis from November, 2022 through April 2024 and the findings.
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,
Monica Ciardi
Good morning,
NJ DCF ORPA is in receipt of the below 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.”)
Your closing receipt is attached.
Thank you,
Allyson Mahoney, Esq.
Ethics Liaison Officer | OPRA Custodian
NJ Department of Children and Families
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