Confidentiality

According to "Section ​A.2. Confidentiality" of the 2022 American School Counselor Association Ethical Guidelines, school counselors must:

• Promote awareness of school counseling ethical standards and legal mandates regarding confidentiality
• Inform students of the purposes, goals, techniques, rules, and procedures under which they may receive counseling.
• Recognize informed consent requires competence, voluntariness, and knowledge on the students' part
• Recognize that obtaining informed consent is not always possible.
• Explain the limits of confidentiality in developmentally appropriate ways and through various means.
• Keep information confidential unless legal requirements demand confidential information be revealed or a breach is required to prevent serious or foreseeable harm to the student or others.
• Recognize their primary obligation for confidentiality is to the students but balance that obligation with an understanding of parents’/guardians’ legal and inherent rights to be the guiding voice in their children’s lives, especially in value-laden issues. 
• Collaborate with and involve students to the extent possible to use the most appropriate and least intrusive method to breach confidentiality if such an action is warranted.
• Request of the court that disclosure not be required when the release of confidential information may potentially harm a student or the counseling relationship.
• Protect the confidentiality of students’ records and release personal data in accordance with prescribed federal and state laws and school policies including the laws within the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). 
• Recognize the vulnerability of confidentiality in electronic communications and only transmit student information electronically in a way that is secure.
• Convey a student’s highly sensitive information (e.g., a student’s suicidal ideation) through personal contact such as a phone call or visit and not less-secure means such as a notation in the educational record or an email.
• Advocate for appropriate safeguards and protocols so highly sensitive student information is not disclosed accidentally to individuals who do not have a need to know such information.
• Advocate with appropriate school officials for acceptable encryption standards to be utilized for stored data and currently acceptable algorithms to be utilized for data in transit. 
• Avoid using software programs without the technological capabilities to protect student information based upon legal specifications and currently acceptable security standards.
• Advocate for physical and virtual workspaces that are arranged to protect the confidentiality of students’ communications and records.​

In order for school counselors to share confidential information with third parties including outside agencies or therapists, parents/guardians must complete and sign a CPS Release of Information. The CPS Release of Information form can be completed to allow school counselors to release information to and/or obtain information from specific individuals or entities.  The CPS Release of Information is valid for 1 year from the date of origin and the parent/guardian has the right to revoke a signed release at any time.