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The Virginia Freedom of Information Act Rights and Responsibilities

The Rights of Requesters and the Responsibilities of the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services (DARS or “Department”) under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act.

Adult Protective Services and Disability Determination Services Record Requests

If you are requesting records regarding adult protective services (APS) investigations of abuse, neglect, and exploitation of adults 60 years of age or older and incapacitated adults aged 18 or older, please direct your request to the appropriate local department of social services (LDSS). LDSS investigate cases of suspected maltreatment and maintain those records. A complete and updated list of LDSS and their contact information can be found at: Find Your Local Department - Virginia Department of Social Services.

If you are requesting records regarding disability determination services, please direct your request to Teresa Sizemore-Hernandez, Professional Relations Team Leader with the DARS Division of Disability Determination Services (DDS). The DARS Division of Disability Determination Services (DDS) is not the custodian of Social Security disability claims or records. She can be reached at the Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services, Suite 250, 111 Franklin Road SE, Roanoke, VA 24011, phone: (540)-613-0344, or teresa.sizemore-hernandez@ssa.gov.

Background

The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), located at § 2.2-3700 et seq. of the Code of Virginia, guarantees citizens of the Commonwealth and representatives of the media access to public records held by public bodies, public officials, and public employees.

A public record is any writing or recording -- regardless of whether it is a paper record, an electronic file, an audio or video recording, or any other format -- that is prepared or owned by, or in the possession of a public body or its officers, employees or agents in the transaction of public business. All public records are presumed to be open, and may only be withheld if a specific, statutory exemption applies.

The policy of FOIA states that the purpose of FOIA is to promote an increased awareness by all persons of governmental activities. In furthering this policy, FOIA requires that the law be interpreted liberally, in favor of access, and that any exemption allowing public records to be withheld must be interpreted narrowly.

Your FOIA Rights

  • You have the right to request to inspect or receive copies of public records, or both.
  • You have the right to request that any charges for the requested records be estimated in advance.
  • If you believe that your FOIA rights have been violated, you may file a petition in district or circuit court to compel compliance with FOIA.

Making a Request for records from the Department

  • You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax, e-mail, in person, or over the phone. FOIA does not require that your request be in writing, nor do you need to specifically state that you are requesting records under FOIA.
    • From a practical perspective, it may be helpful to both you and the person receiving your request to put your request in writing. This allows you to create a record of your request. It also gives us a clear statement of what records you are requesting, so that there is no misunderstanding over a verbal request. However, we cannot refuse to respond to your FOIA request if you elect to not put it in writing.
  • Your request must identify the records you are seeking with "reasonable specificity." This is a common-sense standard. It does not refer to or limit the volume or number of records that you are requesting; instead, it requires that you be specific enough so that we can identify and locate the records that you are seeking.
  • Your request must ask for existing records or documents. FOIA gives you a right to inspect or copy records; it does not apply to a situation where you are asking general questions about the work of DARS, nor does it require DARS to create a record that does not exist.
  • You may choose to receive electronic records in any format used by DARS in the regular course of business.
    • For example, if you are requesting records maintained in an Excel database, you may elect to receive those records electronically, via e-mail or on a computer disk, or to receive a printed copy of those records
  • If we have questions about your request, please cooperate with staff's efforts to clarify the type of records that you are seeking, or to attempt to reach a reasonable agreement about a response to a large request. Making a FOIA request is not an adversarial process, but we may need to discuss your request with you to ensure that we understand what records you are seeking.

Costs

  • You may have to pay for the records that you request from DARS. FOIA allows DARS to charge for the actual costs of responding to FOIA requests. This would include costs associated with staff time spent searching for the requested records, copying costs, or any other costs directly related to supplying the requested records. DARS cannot charge for general overhead costs.
  • You may request that DARS provide in advance estimated charges for supplying the records you have requested.
  • DARS is available to offer suggestions to modify the FOIA request if the cost associated with the original request is too high.
  • FOIA response timelines are suspended until you respond to the cost estimate provided by DARS.  If DARS does not receive a response to the cost estimate within 30 days of sending the estimate, your request will be considered withdrawn.
  • If DARS estimates that a FOIA request will cost more than $200 to provide, DARS will require you to pay a deposit of 50% of the total estimated cost before processing the FOIA request.  The time allowed for DARS to provide the records will be on hold from the time when the cost estimate is provided until payment is received.
  • Payment can be made by check or money order written to the ‘Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services.’ Please reference the FOIA requestor's name to ensure the payment is appropriately applied to the specific FOIA request.

    Payment should be sent to:
    Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services
    c/o FOIA Officer
    8004 Franklin Farms Drive
    Henrico, VA 23229

  • If you owe money from a previous FOIA request that has remained unpaid for more than 30 days, DARS may require payment of the past-due bill before it processes any new FOIA requests from you.
  • For additional information regarding the Division of Rehabilitative Services (DRS) FOIA requests, please see the DRS Policy and Procedure Manual.

Contact Information for Requests

(Please review the information above regarding disability determination services and adult protective services requests.)

To request records from DARS, you may direct your request to Cara Kaufman, DARS FOIA Officer. She can be reached at DARS Central Office, 8004 Franklin Farms Drive, Henrico, VA 23229; direct line: 804-845-4765; toll free: 1-800-552-5019; TTY-toll free: 1-800-464-9950; fax: 1-804-662-9532, or Cara.Kaufman@dars.virginia.gov You may also contact her with questions you have concerning requesting records from DARS.

In addition, the Freedom of Information Advisory Council is available to answer any questions you may have about FOIA. The Council may be contacted by e-mail at foiacouncil@leg.state.va.us, or by phone at (804) 225-3056 or [toll free] 1-866-448-4100.

DARS' Responsibilities in Responding to Your Request

  • DARS must respond to your request within five working days of receiving it. "Day One" is considered the day after your request is received. The five-day period does not include weekends or holidays.
  • The reason behind your request for public records from DARS is irrelevant, and you do not have to state why you want the records before we respond to your request. FOIA does, however, allow DARS to ask you to provide your name and legal address.
  • FOIA requires that DARS make one of the following responses to your request within the five-day time period:
    1. We provide you with the records that you have requested in their entirety.
    2. We withhold all of the records that you have requested, because all of the records are subject to a specific statutory exemption. If all of the records are being withheld, we must send you a response in writing. That writing must identify the volume and subject matter of the records being withheld, and state the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows us to withhold the records.
    3. We provide some of the records that you have requested, but withhold other records. We cannot withhold an entire record if only a portion of it is subject to an exemption. In that instance, we may redact the portion of the record that may be withheld, and must provide you with the remainder of the record. We must provide you with a written response stating the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows portions of the requested records to be withheld.
    4. We inform you in writing that the requested records cannot be found or do not exist (we do not have the records you want). However, if we know that another public body has the requested records, we must include contact information for the other public body in our response to you.
    5. If it is practically impossible for DARS to respond to your request within the five-day period, we must state this in writing, explaining the conditions that make the response impossible. This will allow us seven additional working days to respond to your request, giving us a total of 12 working days to respond to your request.
  • If you make a request for a very large number of records, and we feel that we cannot provide the records to you within 12 working days without disrupting our other organizational responsibilities, we may petition the court for additional time to respond to your request. However, FOIA requires that we make a reasonable effort to reach an agreement with you concerning the production or the records before we go to court to ask for more time.

Commonly used exemptions

The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure. DARS commonly withholds records subject to the following exemptions:

  • Personnel records (§ 2.2-3705.1 (1) of the Code of Virginia)
  • Records subject to attorney-client privilege (§ 2.2-3705.1 (2)) or attorney work product (§ 2.2-3705.1 (3))
  • Vendor proprietary information (§ 2.2-3705.1 (6))
  • Records relating to the negotiation and award of a contract, prior to a contract being awarded (§ 2.2-3705.1 (12))

Other Requirements

DARS also has some other requirements based on federal law.

  • 34 CFR § 361.38 has requirements regarding the protection, use and release of personal information on vocational rehabilitation consumers. These records may only be released under certain regulatory requirements.