Submitted to the District of Columbia Council May 5, 2008

Coalition to Protect the Privacy Rights
Of Children and Families

We the undersigned strongly urge the Council to exempt mental health professionals from the record disclosure requirements of Bill 17-247.

As written, the proposed Child Abuse and Neglect Investigation Record Access Amendment Act of 2008 (Bill 17-247) violates long-established principles of privacy of mental health records, unnecessarily invades the child’s right to privileged communication, and opens the door to potential misuse of confidential information.

The requirement of disclosure of psychotherapy records at the onset of an investigation of child abuse or neglect -- without judicial review -- has disturbing implications:

• Disclosure of confidential records is known to have a profoundly chilling effect on the treatment relationship between child and psychotherapist. Damage to the family and child’s trust in therapy may be irreparable, and bring an end to needed treatment for the child.
   
• The proposed amendment risks a repetition of the abuse trauma itself, because the private space of the child is once again invaded, leaving the child helpless and without a safe space.
   
• To bypass the judicial review with regard to a child’s psychotherapy records would set a dangerous precedent which is contrary to the intent of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Jaffee v Redmond as well as the District of Columbia Mental Health Privacy Information Act.
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• Compliance with the requirement to disclose psychotherapy records without judicial review would place mental health professionals in violation of the ethical codes and accepted standards of care required by each of the clinical mental health professions.

In fact, the measure is excessive with regard to the records of mental health
professionals. As mandated reporters, mental health professionals are already required to make reports of the nature and extent of suspected abuse or neglect of children. In the great majority of abuse/neglect investigations, allegations prove to be unfounded. District law already provides that, as an investigation progresses, the decision about specific treatment records or any other information needed by Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) can be made at the discretion of a judge in the privacy of a closed courtroom. This process is already in place.

An amendment exempting mental health professionals from the record disclosure requirements of Bill 17-247 would prevent the unintended consequence of harming the very children that the bill means to protect. Psychotherapy records should not be sought at the outset of an investigation, nor should they be disclosed without judicial review.

ORGANIZATIONS

Greater Washington Society for Clinical Social Work
National Association of Social Workers DC-Metro Chapter
Washington Psychiatric Society
Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Society of Greater Washington
Baltimore-Washington Society for Psychoanalysis
Accreditation Council for Psychoanalytic Education
American Psychoanalytic Association
American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area
Association for Psychoanalytic Thought
District of Columbia Psychological Association

In addition to the organizations, 115 social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists and others signed onto this letter.