Howard Davidson, Director, American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, presents changes in law and policy regarding the issues of managing privacy and confidentiality of child abuse cases and the need for greater transparency and accountability from those who manage the cases.

1. Georgia Child Welfare Legal Academy
December 4, 2014

8. GEORGIA Received a Grade of B (2012)
I. Is there a state policy regarding public disclosure of findings or information
about child abuse or neglect which has resulted in a child fatality or near
fatality? Yes. 40 out of 40
II. Is the state policy codified in statute? Yes (O.C.G.A. § 49-5-41). 10 out of 10
III. What is the ease of access to the information? Georgia’s policy requires
mandatory disclosure. Any adult requesting information regarding
investigations by the department of a governmental child protective agency
regarding the findings or information about the case of child abuse or neglect
that results in a child fatality or near fatality “shall have reasonable access to
such records concerning reports of child abuse.” (O.C.G.A. § 49-5-41(a)).
20 out of 20

9. IV. What is the scope of information authorized for release? Georgia’s policy
is vague and unclear with a moderate restriction. The information authorized
for disclosure is limited to “the available facts and findings” with no further
clarification or description (O.C.G.A. § 49-5-41(a)(6)). The moderate restriction
is that information will not be released if it is made confidential by another
provision of the law (O.C.G.A. § 49-5-41(e)). 6 out of 20
V. Are child abuse/neglect proceedings open? Pursuant to O.C.G.A.§ 15-11-78,
proceedings are presumptively open to the general public. However the court
“may refuse to admit a person to a hearing…upon making a finding …that the
person’s presence at the hearing would: (1) Be detrimental to the best interest
of a child who is a party to the proceeding; (2) Impair the factfinding process; or
(3) Be otherwise contrary to the interest of justice.” (O.C.G.A.§ 15-11-78). A
judge may order the media not to release identifying information concerning
any child or family members or foster parent or other caretaker of a child
involved in hearings open to the public (O.C.G.A § 15-11-78(i)). 10 out of 10

10. ”
Commission created by the “Protect Our Kids Act” – P.L. 112–275 (1/14/13)
I presented on this issue at their July 2014 meeting

11. I opened a panel discussion on July 11th on
confidentiality, providing background on how the original
1974 CAPTA requirements, that were primarily focused
on keeping records private, should be amended to
require more disclosure
“To prevent child deaths,” I said, “CAPTA must evolve
from a ‘you must keep confidential’ focus to a ‘you must
disclose’ focus.”
“While an amendment [to CAPTA] was passed in 2003
to promote mandatory disclosure, older regulations
requiring states to criminalize disclosures, and lack of
guidance to states on permissible and mandated
disclosures, may actually be working to inhibit full
implementation of CAPTA’s disclosure provisions.”

23. August 2014 128 pages
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/acf_confidentiality_toolkit
_final_08_12_2014.pdf
Good summary of federal laws on information exchange

24. Appendix B of this document is particularly useful with models for information
sharing:
Includes Memorandums of Agreement and Understanding, Security
Agreements, and Notices of Privacy Practices from:
State of Kentucky – Memorandum of Agreement
State of New York – Master Memorandum of Understanding
State of Colorado – Master Memorandum of Understanding
ACF/Office of Child Support Enforcement – Security Agreement
Montgomery County, Maryland – Notice of Privacy Practices