Due to the importance of customer secrecy, the obligation to warn and protect only applies in certain circumstances. For a social worker to have the right to violate confidentiality, the client must have posed a specific and immediate threat to an identifiable person. For example, if a client tells the social worker that they feel capable of violence when they get angry, there is no obligation to warn because the statement is too general. However, if the client says they intend to kill their supervisor at work, there may be a duty to warn if the social worker thinks the threat is serious. Confidentiality is one of the basic principles of social work practice. When a client requests treatment from a social worker, the client and sometimes the social worker often assume that everything discussed between the client and the social worker will be treated confidentially, as well as any written documents relating to the relationship between the client and the employee. In fact, however, this confidentiality had no basis in Connecticut law until 1992, when NASW/CT successfully introduced and passed the Social Work Privacy Act (Section 52-146q of the Connecticut General Laws). Even with the passage of this law, there are restrictions on the confidentiality of social work records in Connecticut. Below is a description of the main provisions of the act, including the statute of limitations and exceptions to the law. It`s hard to balance the ethical responsibility to protect client confidentiality with the legal obligation to protect children from harm, even for social workers with decades of experience! So how do you actually do that? First, you start at the beginning of the relationship with your client by engaging in a discussion about the limits of client privacy with your client through informed consent. One of the key issues in this case concerns the nature of a client`s right to confidentiality. Contemporary social workers understand that there are exceptions to clients` privacy rights in exceptional circumstances – for example, when clients threaten to harm themselves or others, or to abuse or neglect a child or elderly person. As stated in the National Association of Social Workers` (NASW) Code of Ethics, “the general expectation that social workers keep information confidential does not apply when disclosure is necessary to prevent serious, foreseeable and imminent harm to a client or other identifiable person” (Standard 1.07(c)).
What communications and files are covered? All oral and written communications and records relating to the assessment and treatment of the Client(s). This applies to communication between the client and the social worker, between a family member of the client and the social worker, and between the client or a family member of the client and a person who is involved in achieving the objectives of the assessment or treatment under the supervision of a licensed clinical social worker. Confidentiality applies wherever the communication has taken place. 5. Document important steps in decision-making. Careful documentation serves to protect all parties involved, especially when social workers` decisions are challenged. Social workers faced with ethical decisions about the limits of client confidentiality must balance several potentially competing programs. First and foremost, social workers must act in the best interests of their clients.
They must adhere to strict guidelines for informed consent and respect clients` right to self-determination and confidentiality. In addition, social workers must protect third parties who may be at risk, in accordance with applicable ethical and legal standards. Finally, social workers should act in such a way that they and their employers are protected from the risks of an ethical complaint or lawsuit for alleged violation of clients` rights. This is not a question we can answer on this website for your specific situation. Note, however, that privacy is limited (as described in the article). Section 1.07 of the NASW Code of Ethics states: “(c) Social workers shall protect the confidentiality of all information they receive in the course of professional service, except for compelling professional reasons. The general expectation that social workers will keep information confidential does not apply if disclosure is necessary to prevent serious, foreseeable and imminent harm to a client or others. “If you believe the social worker violated professional ethics, you can take action, for .B. (1) talk to your social worker to determine and better understand what happened, (2) talk to someone else within the social worker`s agency, (3) report to the state admissions committee, (4) report to the social worker`s professional association. The measures to be taken depend on the specifics of your situation. In addition, the VA may have a procedure to appeal the provision if you believe it is wrong.
Ms. N is a clinical social worker at a community mental health centre in a large metropolitan area. She specializes in the treatment of school-aged children and their families. Wife. N conducted a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment and consulted with Lance`s mother (a single mother), teacher and student support counsellor. Ms. N spoke with Lance`s teacher about possible classroom interventions (e.g. B the systematic use of positive enhancers to improve Lance`s behavior), began an individual consultation with him and met sporadically with his mother. Social workers are also required, by virtue of their professional standards, to protect the confidentiality of clients, even if they seek to limit the scope of a court order made to them.
However, if a customer poses an immediate threat of violence, confidentiality may conflict with a legal obligation to warn and protect. Even if you submit a report to parental control services, you should try to protect your customer as much as possible. When you submit a client report to child protection services, you are not offering a full psychosocial biopsych assessment of your client. Instead, you provide the information necessary to comply with your legal reporting obligation as well as your ethical obligation to the company, while protecting your customers` privacy as much as possible. The Client or his/her authorized representative may withdraw any declaration of consent at any time by notifying in writing the social worker to whom the initial consent was submitted or at the office where the initial consent was submitted. Withdrawal of consent does not affect communications and records disclosed prior to the notice of withdrawal, except that such communications and records may not be re-disclosed after the date of the notice of withdrawal of consent. I spoke to a social worker who promised not to tell anyone what I shared with her. I learned a few days ago that she had shared this information with the VA, then I received a letter from the Veterans Administration saying that they had been told what the social worker had said, and now the VA is coming up with a finding of incompetence that will be detrimental to me. What are my recourse options? What can I do to stop them? 1. Review all relevant standards of the NASW Code of Ethics. In this case, the most important standards concern customer self-determination (section 1.02), informed consent (section 1.03) and data protection and confidentiality (section 1.07).
Conflict of interest standards (section 1.06) may also be relevant to the extent that the social worker provides services to two persons (mother and child) whose interests may conflict. Some would argue that it would have been wise for the social worker to refer the mother to another clinician for individual advice. As stated in the Code, “social workers who expect a conflict of interest between individuals receiving services or who expect to have to perform potentially conflicting roles [e.g., B if a social worker is invited to testify in a custody dispute or divorce proceedings with clients] should clarify their role with the parties involved and take appropriate measures to minimize conflicts of interest.” Informed consent often involves a discussion of basic protocols, . B such as how to schedule or cancel appointments, or the best way to contact the social worker. .