Joseph Smeraldi v. Department of Children and Families (SPR 20231850)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 24, 2023 SPR23/1850 Steven Treat, Esq. Primary Records Access Officer Assistant General Counsel Department of Children and Families 600 Washington Street, 6th Floor Boston, MA 02111 Dear Attorney Treat: I have received the petition of Joseph Smeraldi appealing the response of the Department of Children and Families (Department) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On July 28, 2023, Mr. Smeraldi requested the following: (1) Records related to [Office of the Ombudsman’s] complaints against the North Central Area Office for the past five years… (2) Records related to all interim assessments performed by the Worcester Regional Office at the request of the North Central Area Office for the past five years. Please only include ad-hoc assessments and not routine annual assessments… (3) Records related to requests for a fair hearing against the North Central Area Office for the past five years… (4) Requesting all emails To and From [a named person] (North Central Area Office) for the last six months.… Please exclude all messages sent to a distribution list. (5) All policies that cover the roles and responsibilities of the Office of the Ombudsman to include how complaints are processed and responded to. (6) Copies of all policies that cover the roles and responsibilities of the Worcester Regional Office in regard to how complaints are processed and responded to. (7) Copies of all policies that cover the roles and responsibilities of the Worcester Regional Office in regards to how ad-hoc interim assessments are processed. (8) All policies that cover the roles and responsibilities of the Fair Hearing Unit to include how hearing are conducted and the roles and responsibilities of all parties involved. (9) A copy of my case file from the North Central Area Office. One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Steven Treat, Esq. SPR23/1850 Page 2 August 24, 2023 (10) A copy of the re-assessment case file prepared by [a named person] out of the Worcester office. I am specifically requesting all notes, reports of contact, correspondence including all emails, and any other evidence gathered as part of her assessment as well as any draft reports. On July 28, 2023, the Department responded and provided further responses on August 4, 2023, and August 9, 2023. In the Department’s August 4th response it provided records responsive to Items 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the request and withheld responsive records for Items 2, and 4 of the request pursuant to Exemptions (a) and (c) of the Public Records Law. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26)(a), (c). In the Department’s August 9th response, it provided additional responsive records for Item 1 of the request. Unsatisfied with the Department’s responses, Mr. Smeraldi petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/1850, was opened as a result. Subsequently, I learned that the Department responded to Mr. Smeraldi’s request with a further response sent on August 16, 2023. Where this appeal was opened as a result of the Department’s July 28th, August 4th, and August 9th responses, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Mr. Smeraldi may appeal the substantive nature of the Department’s August 16th response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Joseph Smeraldi