1061 Record Retention | ADMINISTRATION-5600-MANUAL

Georgia Division of Aging Services
Administrative Manual

Chapter:

1000 General DAS Administration

Effective Date:

03/30/2022

Section Title:

Record Retention

Reviewed or Updated in:

MT 2022-06

Section Number:

1061

Previous Update:

MT 2021-05

Summary Statement

The Division of Aging Services (DAS) adheres to the Georgia State Government Records Retention Schedule and Department of Human Services policies and procedures regarding record retention.

Basic Considerations

Staff must review record retention policy before deleting or destroying any record, electronic or paper, and including email.

If there is more than one schedule for the same record, the priority is as follows:

State Government Records Retention Schedule supersedes State Agency Specific Schedules, which supersedes DAS Record Retention Schedule.

The DAS Record Retention Schedule is found in Table 1 below. Record Number and Retention Recommendations are defined in the State Government Records Retention Schedule.

Table 1: DAS Record Retention Schedule
Record Title	Short Description	Record Number	Retention Recommendation	How Stored
Periodic Reports	Periodic annual reports that describe agency function, performance, and activities due to federal agencies including NAPIS, NORS, SHIP, and Just the Facts, and LTCO Report.	02-15	Permanent	Stored electronically on a shared drive; if paper files are maintained, local file cabinet
Federal and State Grant Reports	Final narrative summary submitted according to grant requirements of the funding agency	02-010	Permanent	Shared network drive; Transfer to archives every 1 – 4 years
Table 1: DAS Record Retention Schedule, cont.
Record Title	Short Description	Record Number	Retention Recommendation	How Stored
Mailing Lists	Various lists of names and addresses for DAS contractors	03-008	Transitory	Shared network drive
Electronic Client Data	Client data from internal and external computer systems		Permanent	DAS Data System
Minutes and Agenda	Official record of DAS meetings and decisions made including all section’s meeting notes, and internal team meeting notes.	02-014	Permanent	Local file in specified folder or binder
PSA Monitoring Records	Monitoring results for Older Americans Act programs, waiver programs, ADRC, GeorgiaCares, SCSEP for each contractor region.	02-007	2 years	Stored electronically on a shared drive; if paper files are maintained, local file cabinet
General Correspondence	Correspondence related to day-to-day operations of the office. Copies of letters mailed or received by professional staff and all administrative staff kept chronologically.	02-004	5 years	Stored electronically on a shared drive; if paper files are maintained, local file cabinet
Publications	DAS newsletter, DAS/LTCO/ GeorgiaCares/Other brochures, Advance Directives, Power of Attorney and other handbooks	02-019	Permanent	Transfer to Archives
Policies and Procedures	Standard operating practices for all DAS business processes	02-017	Temporary, Short Term	Electronically, on-line (ODIS)
Open Records Act Requests and Correspondence	Inquiries to all DAS programs from members of the public requesting access to information under the Georgia Open Records Act (OCGA §50-18-70 et seq.); OCGA 9-3-24	10-010	Temporary, Short Term	Maintained by the DHS Open Records Officer
Business Continuity Plans	DAS wide business recovery plans for man-made and natural disasters including emergency plans for contractors, Adult Protective Services and Public Guardianship Office; OCGA§ 9-3-32	13-00	Temporary, Short Term	Electronically, on-line
Table 1: DAS Record Retention Schedule, cont.
Record Title	Short Description	Record Number	Retention Recommendation	How Stored
Adult Protective Services Case Records	Client file containing investigation information of abuse/neglect/exploitation of vulnerable adults		3 years after case closure	Closed Files
Public Guardianship Records	Client file containing information on persons under guardianship where DHS is the guardian of last resort		3 years after case closure	Closed Files

Procedures

Each DAS Section is responsible for creating, implementing, and monitoring record retention procedures that are specific to the program and work done in that section.

As needed, the Program Integrity Section manager or his designee will convene a work group to resolve any cross section overlap or discrepancies.

The Program Integrity Section Manager is responsible for assuring DAS Publications are transferred to archives.

Appropriate Document Destruction

Once documents, files, or information storage devices are no longer required to be maintained pursuant to contractual obligations or record retention schedules, that information can only be appropriately disposed of by shredding, erasing, or otherwise permanently destroying or making completely and irreversibly indecipherable all physical forms of information that contain the confidential, personally identifiable, and/or protected health information of clients. Documents and information storage devices must be kept secure in compliance with record retention schedules until they are destroyed. If documents are to be shredded, they must be shredded with a device that meets a minimum DIN security level P-4 rating or higher.

Paper Records that are not retained must be disposed of properly. Any record with Personal Health Information (PHI) or Personal Indentifiable Information (PII) must be shredded using the locked shredder bins available in the office.

Electronic Record disposal is discussed in Section 1060 of this manual.

References

Refer to MAN 5600, Section 3012, Agency on Aging Records

Refer to MAN 5600, Section 1060 for electronic record retention

Georgia’s State Government Records Retention Schedules:
www.georgiaarchives.org/records/retention_schedules

POL 1410, Records Management, PRO 1410, MAN 1410A and MAN 1410B