UNDERSTANDING THE REGULATIONS

UNDERSTANDING THE

REGULATIONS:

What Alaskan Foster Parents

Need to Know

CONFIDENTIALITY

1.0 Hour Training Credit

Written and Produced by:

The Alaska Foster Parent Training Center

1-800-478-7307

Funded by the State of Alaska

Division of Family and Youth Services

UNDERSTANDING THE REGULATIONS:

What Alaskan Foster Parents Need to Know

Confidentiality 7 AAC 50.130

This series was compiled with help from the State of Alaska Division of Family and Youth Services to help foster parents understand the foster care regulations. This series is a guide to the regulations, but is not a substitute. In all discrepancies between the information in this series and the regulations, the regulations are the final authority. Contact your licensing worker for a complete copy of the regulations.

What is Confidentiality?

Confidentiality refers to not sharing information you have about the children in your care unless you are legally bound to do so or if you need to share it to ensure the best care for the child.

Why Are Foster Parents Required to Respect Confidentiality?

The Division of Family and Youth Services is responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all information concerning the people it serves. This is demanded by both state and federal laws and is written into DFYS policy. Because DFYS has access to very personal information about families and is given strong powers to intervene to protect children, it also has an obligation to take strict care with this information. This obligation extends to you as a foster parent. The placement worker will be sharing all necessary information with you about the child that enables you to care for the child. You are expected to respect the privacy of the child and the child's family by keeping this information confidential.

What Does Alaska Law Say About Confidentiality

[AS 47.10.096(b)] " A state of municipal agency or employee shall disclose appropriate information regarding a case to foster parent or relative with whom the child is placed by the department as may be necessary to enable the foster parent or relative to provide appropriate care for the child who is the subject of the case, to protect the safety of the child who is the subject of the case, and to protect the safety and property of family members and visitors of the foster parents or relatives."

[AS 47.10.080 (q)] DFYS is required to "provide the foster parent with a copy of all initial, updated, an revised case service plans for the child, court orders relating to the child, and the child's medical, mental and education reports prepared by or for the department including reports compiled before the child was placed with the foster parents."

What Does It Mean To Respect Confidentiality?

You may only share pertinent information about children in your care with other individuals when necessary for the provision on care, treatment or supervision of the child. You should be careful not to share background information about child abuse/neglect or the child's family with your relatives, friends or neighbors. That means when your sister wants to know the reason why a child in your home is in foster care, you should not reveal details about the child's family, history of abuse or current state of his family. You should not identify a child as a foster child whenever possible.

Confidentiality is especially important when you live in a small community. Many times, people will have a general idea (and often the wrong idea) of why a child is in your home. Neighbors might know the parents of the child you are fostering. Family members may want more information and sometimes "gossip" from you. It is very important that you answer these questions with "I'm sorry. As a foster parent I'm not allowed to to talk about that." Or refuse to answer such questions. You should not let photographs of your foster child be taken and used in any way for publicity, news, promotion, or any other public venue without the expressed permission of the social worker and the birth parent.

What Do Foster Care Regulations Say About Confidentiality?

[7 AAC 50.130] "A foster home shell maintain confidentiality of information about a child and the child's family... A foster home may not disclose information, including photographs concerning a child in state custody if disclosure is inconsistent with the child's plan of care of treatment. plan."

If you need to talk to the police about your foster child (or if the police contact you), give them information only about the immediate situation. Let the officer know this child is in state's custody and give him the name and phone number of the social worker to contact for further information.

Does My Social Worker Operate Under The Same Confidentiality Laws I Do?

Caseworkers must follow the same rules of confidentiality that you do, as well as additional requirements. Caseworkers cannot share information about the families they work with nor share any information about drug or alcohol use or names, addresses and personal information their clients. Caseworkers cannot share with a foster parent specific information about a parent's drug or alcohol treatment of history. Caseworkers cannot share this information without expressed permission for the birth parent. GALs or Guardian Ad Litums also function under similar rules of confidentiality. The Guardians Ad Litem is the court appointed person who is to investigate and prepare a report for the court as to what would be in the best interest of the child. The GAL ma talk to you about the child adn you may share whatever information he or she asks for.

HIV Status -- If a child is known to have HIV, the virus that causes AIDs, the caseworker should shared that information with you so that you can provide the respective care the child needs. You as a foster parent should also have access to any medical records or history that is known regarding the child. It is good practice to use Universal Precautions with all foster children in your care and require you baby sitters to do so regardless of a child's HIV status. A foster parent is not allowed to have a child tested for HIV/AIDS Infection without prior approval by the placement worker. (For more information, please contact AFPTC and request our Information Packet "Protecting Yourself from HIV".)

Court Hearings -- Foster parents should be notified of court hearings and have the opportunity to speak. However, foster parents are not considered parties to the case. This means that foster parents do not have the right to be present at the other parts of the hearing addressing information about the birth parents. You may be asked to leave after presenting your concerns and information about the child.

Reporting Child Abuse And Neglect -- Under the State of Alaska reporting statutes {AS 47.17], certain persons are required to report suspected abuse and neglect. These mandated reporters include foster parents under that category of child care providers. If in the performance of your duties of a foster parent you have reasonable cause to suspect a child has suffered harm as a result of child abuse or neglect, you should report the suspect harm immediately. It is not the intent of the reporting mandate that person investigates suspected child abuse or neglect before they make the required report. When you make a report, contact the social worker working with the child. (In Anchorage, call the Intake Unit to make any report of harm to a child.)

This information may come to you directly from the child in your home. It is important to encourage the child to see you as someone that they can trust, but also let them know that there are some things you cannot keep secret. A child may want to tell you something on the condition you keep it secret. It is better to be up front with your obligation to report abuse or neglect. If a child says, "then I'm not going to tell you." you can say, "I'm sorry you don't want to tell me now, but I want you to know that I care about you. If you want to talk about it later, I will be here to listen."

Foster Home Licensing Records -- Foster home licensing records. like child care licenses, are considered public records and are available for public review. Your foster home record (with son exceptions) maintained at DFYS may be reviewed from someone from the community. Before these records can be reviewed, a DFYS worker will review the record and black out any information about the children in your home and remove personal information from you file, including FBI and public safety background check results.

Drug And Alcohol Records -- Because of federal laws, a caseworker cannot share information with you about the birth parents current or past drug or alcohol treatment. Neither can drug or alcohol treatment centers say whether or not someone is in treatment and what kind of treatment they are receiving unless they have written consent by the person in treatment. This is often why so much information about the birth parent may be kept confidential from you. A caseworker may share with you that there is suspicion of substance abuse in the family or that the child was put into care because of danger resulting from drug or alcohol use. But the caseworker cannot share specifics about what kind of treatment or where the parent is receiving this treatment. During a child's stay with you , you may find out this information (such as if you need to take the child to a specific drug treatment center for a visit with parent). This information is considered confidential and should not be shared with others.

What Can I Share	What Shouldn't you Share?
Information about a child with the caseworker or in a court hearing	You should not identify a child as a foster child whenever possible.
Information about background and daily behaviors with the child's counselor.	You should not share any background information, family history, or information about parents with any exceeded family member, relative, neighbors or friends, or acquaintance who ask.
Information about daily behaviors with the Guardian Ad Litem or during a court hearing.	You should not allow photographs or videos or media interviews to take place with the child without the permission of the caseworker and the birth parent or guardian.
Basic information about the child's behavior and medical condition with a substitute caregiver that would help in caring for the child.