If your counselor shares confiditional info is it against the law?

Question

Okay this is what is happening. My boyfriend has a troubled 15 yr old son who is in and out of juvey. They ordered for him to have a counselor. When they sat it up they said EVERYTHING would be confidential that the son would talk about w/ her and nothing would be discussed w/ anyone. He told her so many personal things and stuff he has never told anyone. Im sure alot a it was bad. But he did it because he was told none of it can be discussed w/ any 1 else and no 1 could find out about it.
Well he is in big trouble and they are planning on taking him out of the home for a year or so. At the last court date the judge ordered all of the paperwork from the counselor so he could look over it w/ the probation officer.
My b/f thinks its illegal b/c he was told it was confidential. He is looking for proof that it is illegal cuz hes "certain" it is. He said if he finds it is then he will be able to have a diff. judge for his son and he may not be taken away. Is this illegal?

He didnt admit to any crime. He is a messed up 15 yr old, and who knows what goes through his mind. He is not abused in any way. Some of the problems he has is looking at porn and child porn, drugs, his father has no rules for him, he gets away w/ whatever..Im thinking some of that has to do with what was in the paperwork.

Answer 1

Where to start. The judge can look at his paperwork from the counselor, and so can any juvenile probation office, department case worker, and any attorney related to the matter. These people are under a code of ethics not to discuss the matter with anyone it does not pertain to. It is still confidential in the matter that unless he is talking about killing someone, or doing harm, going on a shooting spree, blowing up a school, it will not be discussed in front of an open court. This is how they decide what is in the best interest of the child. What a child says to a counselor, is going to be more than he is willing to tell a judge in this matter, or a case worker. They are trying to do what is best for him, he might not feel that way now, but something has to change, in order for them to do that he made need to be taken out of the home. Something somewhere is not working, if he is 15 and in and out of Juvenile, someone is having a hard time controlling him. Sometimes a parents home is not the best place for this child to get the help he needs. No one is saying that it is a bad parent, at this point, but they have to do what is necessary. I have the best parents, but that could not fix the problems my younger brother had.

But yes it is legal for the judge, and others related, and covered under ethics, by the court to look at these papers.

Answer 2

State and Federal laws do protect the confidentiality of health care information, including information created in providing mental health and substance abuse treatment. However, these laws have numerous exceptions, are inconsistent from state to state, and, in the opinion of many experts, provide less protection of confidentiality than is warranted.

Disclosure also is permitted to law enforcement officials when there was a crime committed on the premises or against the personnel of the treatment program. Even in this case, information provided is to be limited initially to the name, address, and last known whereabouts of the individual who committed or threatened to commit a crime. Other circumstances in which disclosures are permitted without consent include medical emergencies as defined in the regulations; child abuse reports; court orders, when the court has followed procedures established in the regulations; and in criminal investigations of “extremely serious crimes” as defined in the regulations (Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, 1994). The statute and regulations do not address, and therefore do not permit, disclosures to families of clients or to payers without consent of the client.

The Federal law is generally much more detailed than any state mental health law in delineating the conditions that must be met before disclosures can occur. In addition, as this brief summary suggests, state mental health laws and the Federal alcohol and substance abuse laws differ substantively in many respects.

There are numerous sources to provide further information when searching "Confidentiality Laws."

Best wishes.

Answer 3

it was court ordered counseling therefore all records are open to the court to determine if he needs to be institutionalized.