Advisory Opinion 06-013

Facts and Procedural History:

On February 27, 2006, IPAD received a letter dated February 24, 2006, from Jerry Soma, Division Manager of Anoka County Human Services. In his letter, Mr. Soma asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding the classification of certain data the County maintains.

In a letter dated March 1, 2006, IPAD invited the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) to submit comments. On March 24, 2006, IPAD received comments from Commissioner Kevin Goodno.

A summary of the facts as provided by Mr. Soma is as follows. In a letter dated February 9, 2006, a labor union requested access to the following data:

A list of all legally non-licensed child care providers participating in or receiving payment from the state's child care assistance programs, specifically the Minnesota Family Investment Program and Basic Sliding Fee Child Care Program in Anoka County, who have been paid since January 1, 2006. Also, if there are legally non-licensed child care providers in Anoka County who do not receive payment from the state's child care assistance programs, please enclose a separate list of those providers.

For each childcare provider on the list, please provide the following information:

1. Provider Name/Facility Name
2. Street Address
3. City
4. State
5. Zip Code
6. Telephone Number, if available

In his opinion request, Mr. Soma wrote, In conclusion, is data collected by the welfare system in connection with the registration of legal non-licensed child care providers properly classified as private data on individuals or as public data on individuals?

Issue:

Based on Mr. Soma's opinion request, the Commissioner agreed to address the following issue:

Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, what is the classification of the following data that Anoka County maintains: data related to the registration of legal non-licensed child care providers?

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Discussion:

Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 1, government data are public unless otherwise classified.

Minnesota Statutes, section 119B.02, subdivision 6, states, Data collected, maintained, used, or disseminated by the welfare system pertaining to persons selected as legal nonlicensed child care providers by families receiving child care assistance shall be treated as licensing data as provided in section 13.46, subdivision 4.

Section 13.46, subdivision 4, provides various classifications for licensing data.

In his comments to the Commissioner, Commissioner Goodno noted that the state and county human services agencies maintain data about some legal non-licensed child care providers; specifically those who provide services to a family receiving government-subsidized assistance. (See Minnesota Statutes, section 119B.125 and Minnesota Rules, section 3400.0010, subpart 38.) Commissioner Goodno wrote:

The provider must submit an acknowledgement to the county which, in turn, determines whether the provider can be authorized to receive payment from the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).

The only reason that DHS or a county human services agency would have data about a legal nonlicensed child care provider is because that provider is or has been providing services to a family receiving child care assistance. Neither the State nor the county collect or maintain the names of legal nonlicensed child care providers who are providing services to families that are not receiving child care assistance.

In 2004, the Minnesota Legislature attempted to clarify the status of government data about legal nonlicensed child care providers. Pursuant to federal law, the state agency overseeing child care assistance is required [sic] maintain a record of substantiated parental complaints against providers participating in the program, and to make such information available to the public. To make it clear in state law that such data is public data, the Legislature amended Minnesota Statute 199B.02, subdivision 6, to read: data collected, maintained, used, or disseminated by the welfare system pertaining to persons selected as legal nonlicensed child care providers by families receiving child care assistance shall be treated as licensing data as provided in [section 13.46, subd. 4]. [Emphasis provided.]

The union asked for the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all legal non-licensed childcare providers who have been paid via CCAP since January 1, 2006. As stated above, data about legal non-licensed providers are classified by section 13.46, subdivision 4. As the Commissioner opined in Advisory Opinion 01-091, the operation of section 13.46, subdivision 4, is such that all licensing data are presumed private unless there is language specifically stating that certain of the data are public. Nowhere in section 13.46, subdivision 4, does it state that the date on which a provider receives a CCAP payment is public and the Commissioner is not aware of any federal law making such data public. Therefore, the data as requested by the union are not public.

That said, the Commissioner notes that if the union had asked only for the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all legal non-licensed providers, the County would have been required to release those data pursuant to section 13.46, subdivision 4. The County must look to section 13.46, subdivision 4, to determine the classification of other data it maintains about legal non-licensed providers.

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Opinion:

Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue that Mr. Soma raised is as follows:

Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, data maintained by Anoka County about legal non-licensed childcare providers are classified pursuant to section 13.46, subdivision 4. Because the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of providers who have been paid since January 1, 2006, are not included in the list of licensing data that are public, they are private.

Signed:

Dana B. Badgerow
Commissioner

Dated: April 12, 2006

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