WSR 19-02-018
PERMANENT RULES
DEPARTMENT OF
SOCIAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
(Services and Enterprise Support Administration)
[Filed December 21, 2018, 9:16 a.m., effective January 21, 2019]
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: The department is amending WAC 388-01-020 How is DSHS organized?, 388-01-030 What public records are available?, and 388-01-060 How may an individual request a public record?, to update an outdated hyperlink and correct two typographical errors.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 388-01-020, 388-01-030, and 388-01-060.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 42.56.040, chapter 42.56 RCW.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 18-18-082 on September 4, 2018.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 3, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 3, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: December 20, 2018.
Katherine I. Vasquez
Rules Coordinator
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 18-05-021, filed 2/9/18, effective 3/12/18)
WAC 388-01-020How is DSHS organized?
(1) DSHS's current organizational structure can be located at the following link: ((https://www.dshs.wa.gov/strategic-planning/organizational-chart))https://www.dshs.wa.gov/office-of-the-secretary/organizational-chart.
(2) You may also request organizational charts by writing to:
DSHS, office of the secretary
P.O. Box 45010
Olympia, WA 98504-5010.
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 18-05-021, filed 2/9/18, effective 3/12/18)
WAC 388-01-030What public records are available?
(1) DSHS prepares and keeps public records that relate to the programs it administers. All records DSHS uses to conduct business are public records.
DSHS public records may include documents, audio and video recordings, pictures, email, computer disks, and electronic data.
(2) DSHS public records are available to the public unless a law exempts them from disclosure. Some DSHS records are confidential and not available to everyone. Records exempt from public disclosure are listed under chapter 42.56 RCW, (([WAC 388-01-020,]))WAC 388-01-120, and other federal and state laws applicable to DSHS.
(3) Clients, or someone authorized to act for a client, may access confidential records about the client that are exempt from disclosure to the public unless specifically prohibited by law.
(4) Upon request, DSHS may provide access to records such as rules, policies, indexes, interpretive statements, pamphlets, forms, and other publications at cost under WAC 388-01-180 without using the public records request process.
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 18-05-021, filed 2/9/18, effective 3/12/18)
WAC 388-01-060How may an individual request a public record?
(1) An individual may request a public record orally or in writing. DSHS prefers that all public record requests be in writing on the "request for DSHS records" form, DSHS 17-041(X). Individuals may locate this form on the DSHS website at https://www.dshs.wa.gov/fsa/forms or request it from:
DSHS public records officer
Services and enterprise support administration
Information governance unit
P.O. Box 45135
Olympia, WA 98504-5135
Telephone: (360) 902-8484
Fax: (360) 902-7855
Email: DSHSPublicDisclosure@dshs.wa.gov.
(2) If an individual does not use the DSHS form, the written public record request should include the following information:
(a) The requester's name, organization, mailing address, telephone number, fax number, and email address;
(b) The date of the request;
(c) A detailed description of the identifiable public record being requested;
(d) The email or mailing address where DSHS should send copies of the records, or if the requester wants to inspect the record at DSHS; and
(e) The requester's signature.
(3) An individual may fill out a record request at a DSHS office or send it by regular mail, email, or fax to the public records officer listed in WAC 388-01-050.
(4) Requests by third parties for confidential client records must be accompanied by a valid authorization as set forth in WAC 388-01-150.
(5) DSHS may ask an individual requesting a public record for personal identification when the law makes a record disclosable to a specific person.
(6) DSHS may deny a "bot" request, which is one of multiple requests from a requester within a twenty-four (([hour]))hour period, if responding to multiple requests would cause excessive interference with other essential DSHS functions.