COFAR blog

Does the Department of Developmental Services really not keep track of vacancies in its network of state-operated group homes?

That’s the question we have been asking since DDS denied our Public Records request last month for information about the number of vacancies in the residences each year for the past two years.

Earlier this week, the state’s public records supervisor agreed to consider that question as well.

In its May 15 denial, DDS stated that it did not have documents showing the number of vacancies as of the dates we requested, which included the end of Fiscal Years 2022 and 2023, and the date on which we filed the request — April 24 of this year.

Does that mean DDS doesn’t have information on vacancies on other dates? The Department’s response didn’t say.

The DDS denial also stated that, “Vacancies are not tracked by the Department independently from the capacity and census data provided.” In our request, we had asked for information each year on the census (number of residents) and capacity (total number of available beds) in the group homes.

Does DDS’s response mean that the Department doesn’t track vacancies period, or just not “independently from the capacity and census data provided?”

On May 20, we appealed DDS’s response to Manza Arthur, the state’s public records supervisor, arguing that the DDS response was “confusing and ambiguous as to whether DDS actually tracks and has records concerning vacancies in its state-run group homes.”

As we noted, “It’s hard to believe that DDS would not know or keep track of whether vacancies exist in the group home system that it directly manages.”

We added that, “We regularly hear from family members who say they are told by DDS that there are no vacancies in state-operated or provider-operated group homes in specific areas of the state when they request such placements for their loved ones.” We asked how DDS officials “can truthfully say vacancies do not exist in given areas if they don’t know or keep track of that information.”

Public records supervisor initially denies our appeal, but then agrees to reconsider her decision

On June 4, Arthur issued a decision denying our appeal, without responding to or addressing our arguments. She stated only that in a telephone conversation with her office on May 23, “the Department confirmed that it does not possess additional records responsive to …(our) request.” She then stated that she considered our appeal closed.

On Monday (June 24), we asked that Arthur reconsider her decision, saying she had not assessed the merit of any of our assertions in our appeal. We requested that she provide at least some assessment of those assertions, particularly that the Department’s statement was ambiguous as to whether it possesses any information regarding vacancies in state-operated group homes.

I received a message on Monday afternoon from Arthur’s office, saying she had agreed to reconsider her initial decision, based on our objections, and that her new decision would be made in 15 business days, which would be by July 15.

DDS doesn’t inform clients or families about state-operated group homes or ICFs

We have contended for the past few years that there must be vacancies in state-run facilities, including the group homes, because the administration is not informing people seeking residential placements of the existence of those facilities.

As a result, the number of residents in the state-run facilities has been steadily declining. This has been true not only of the group homes, but of the state’s two remaining Intermediate Care Facilities (ICFs) — the Wrentham Developmental Center and the Hogan Regional Center.

In fact, data we did receive as part of DDS’s May 15 response to our Public Records request shows that as of April 24, the census in state-run group homes had dropped 18% from Fiscal Year 2015. As of April 24, the group home census was down to 986.

That decline in the state-run group home census can be compared to the growing census in the Department’s corporate-provider-run group home system, which reached more than 8,200 residents as of Fiscal 2021.

DDS data provided on May 15 also showed that the census at the Wrentham Center was 159 as of April 24. That was down from 323 in Fiscal 2013 – a 51% drop. The census at Hogan as of April 24 was 88. That was down from 159 in Fiscal 2011 – a 45% drop.

Seeking a clarifying statement from DDS

In her initial denial of our appeal regarding the vacancies, Arthur stated that under the Public Records Law, a public employee is not required to answer questions, do research, or create documents in response to questions. But she also stated that under the Law, custodians of records in state agencies are expected to “use their superior knowledge of the records in their custody to assist requestors in obtaining the desired information.”

We subsequently argued to her that it is not clear that DDS has used its superior knowledge of the records in this case to assist us in obtaining our desired information.

We requested that the public records supervisor order DDS to clarify whether it possesses any records that indicate whether vacancies in state-operated homes exist and the number of such vacancies.

It seems to us that DDS does not want to clarify this issue. If there is indeed a growing number of vacancies in state-operated group homes, then DDS would have to explain to clients and families why they are not offering those settings as an option.

It’s more convenient to keep records that might shed light on this issue private with carefully worded statements that appear to imply that the records don’t exist.

We are hopeful that in agreeing to reconsider her initial decision, the public records supervisor recognizes that DDS has an obligation to clarify the nature of the records it possesses, and therefore won’t be able to get away with clouding the issue.