Almost 100 people who passed through Vermont’s foster care system have asked the state to give them copies of their case files.
The influx of requests follows the passage of a law last year giving former foster care children the right to this information.
State officials say they’re working to fulfill the requests, but they need more staff, and some changes to the law, to meet the demand.
Prior to the passage of Act 173 in June 2024, attorneys, law enforcement and state officials were allowed to read the documents, but the former foster care children themselves were barred from accessing them.
Since the law went into effect, 98 individuals have requested their records, according to a report released this month.
Sixteen people have received their documents, according to Aryka Radke, deputy commissioner at the Department for Children and Families. The state is working to deliver another 34 records packages and has yet to start the remaining 31 requests.
“It’s really important to us that folks have that full knowledge of themselves and that really helps them in their process of healing.”Aryka Radke, deputy commissioner, Department for Children and Families
Radke said it’s been a time-consuming process.
State employees must first locate the boxes of papers, sometimes from decades ago, and then read through each page to redact any information about other individuals.
Then they have to digitize the pages before sending them off in an encrypted email.
The largest request, according to the state report, included about 4,400 pages, and the average request takes 36 hours to complete.
“In some ways it’s been more challenging, because some of the records are very, very large, and very complex, and require a lot of time to make the redactions,” Radke said. “But that is absolutely outweighed by the feedback we’ve received from people that have received their records.”
The state’s report includes some of that feedback. “I am currently in therapy addressing symptoms of my childhood trauma,” wrote one records-seeker. “For numerous reasons it would be helpful for me to piece back together this very traumatic time in my childhood now that I am a mature adult in my 50s.” They’d previously sought this information but had been told they weren’t entitled to it, they said.
The average time to disseminate a request is 27 weeks, according to the department.
In total, the Family Services Division has fully processed more than 34,000 pages of records.
The department hired a temporary, part-time staff member to help with the records, and Radke said her office is trying to make that a permanent, full-time position.
“I’m really glad that this legislation passed, and that we have been able to process as many records as we have,” Radke said. “It’s an important service to provide for folks that have been in DCF custody.”
Radke said there have been some barriers to completing the requests at a quicker pace.
In some cases, people requesting their records haven’t been able to show acceptable forms of identification. Those without computers have also had challenges accessing the digitized documents.
And Radke said the new law only allows the individual to request the records so attorneys who, for instance, are representing someone who is incarcerated, cannot get the records on their behalf.
Radke said the department plans to ask state lawmakers to make some changes to the law.
“It would be helpful to get that guidance because I imagine if there is a way to have the attorney get that information it would be helpful for us to provide that information to them,” she said. “It’s really important to us that folks have that full knowledge of themselves and that really helps them in their process of healing.”
