HD52 - The Impact of Laws Protecting Client Confidentiality on Cooperative Relationships of Agencies Working to Address Problems of Children and Families

  • Published: 1991
  • Author: Secretary of Health and Human Resources
  • Enabling Authority: House Joint Resolution 121 (Regular Session, 1990)

Executive Summary:
The 1990 General Assembly passed House Joint Resolution 121 (HJR 121, 1990), which directed the Secretary of Health and Human Resources to conduct a study of the impact of laws protecting client confidentiality on the cooperative relationships of agencies which are working to address the problems of children and their families. The General Assembly requested that the study identify legal, administrative and parental barriers to sharing information. Additionally, the study called for recommendations to provide protection for the privacy of children and their families while allowing for the exchange of information between state and local government agencies when such information is reasonably necessary for the provision of services.

House Joint Resolution 121 recognized that the problems experienced by troubled children and dysfunctional families often require the involvement of a number of local agencies, including the courts, schools, mental health, health and social services agencies. The resolution addresses the desirability of addressing these problems through arrangements that bring the various agencies together to provide information and services to these children and families in one place.

Initial concerns that led to the introduction of HJR 121 (1990) include the following:

• Service agencies often do not know if other agencies simultaneously are serving the same client or family members. Under confidentiality requirements, agencies cannot share the names of clients being served.

• Completion of forms for each agency to release information is time-consuming and impedes the flow of needed information, resulting in delays in service delivery.

• Many agencies request the same basic client information at admission. Rather than sharing this information, each agency serving the same child or family must obtain this data and conduct necessary verifications.

• Sanctions for the inappropriate sharing of confidential information must be established and enforced.

• Some service agencies appear to "hide" behind confidentiality provisions, preventing other service providers from accessing needed information because of perceptions about potential liability, uncertainty as to the flexibility of existing statutory provisions, or long-standing difficulties in interagency relationships.