Confidential Information
January 8, 2006Debi has asked “What I would like to know is why you would say that you would talk to family members usually with written permission. I happen to know that this is not the case. I was one of those family members given written permission and DCYF still refused to talk to me. ”
The answer is this: DCYF involvement with any family is confidential information. If you call up DCYF and ask if your neighbor is involved, you will hear “I cannot confirm or deny involvement with any family.” We simply cannot tell you one way or another, without the family’s express permission. Debi refers to written permission. Since it sounds like Debi is referring to a specific case, and I am not familiar with that case, I can tell tell you what might have happened. First, when we get written permission, we usually ask parents to sign a form that we call a release of information. This form specifies the parent, who the information can be released to, which children can be discussed, and specifically what information can be released. For example, if I ask a parent to sign a release of information form so that I could speak with a child’s doctor, I might ask that the parent allow the doctor to discuss any evaluations they might have conducted, their observations of the child, and referrals they might have made for the family. In this instance, I did not ask for records from the doctor, so that doctor would not be permitted to send me a copy of a child’s immunizations. As I am not aware of the case Debi is referring to, I cannot tell you why Debi did not get the information she was looking for. Perhaps it was not detailed in the release of information form. Perhaps a parent changed their mind, and asked that information not be released. Perhaps the form was not signed. Whatever the reason, I can tell you that in my practice, I usually discuss with parents what they do or do not want me to talk about with family members. If parents give me permission to discuss all aspect of an assessment with a relative, then I am happy to do so. I have met with aunts, uncles and grandparents, and discussed at length my concerns, and what they might do to help the family. As is becoming a common theme in this blog, every case is different, so it is difficult to provide Debi with a specific answer without knowing the details. I can suggest that if she knows the name of the worker who was or is involved with the family, she could contact that worker and ask why the worker is not able to release information, and what could be done so that the worker could release information to Debi.
Right…..I was given a completed authorization to release information and told not to make changes. I DID make changes, as what the DCYF worker wanted did in no way match what I was willing to authorize….Gee whiz,,,,he did what he wanted to without my consent…no that’s some kind of confidentiality…
Do you always double talk your way out of the questions asked of you? I still have yet to get a straight answer to many of the questions I have asked in the past. You censored me back in 2006 and I was unable to respond when I originally blogged.
Since you have attempted to answer my questions, oftentimes you told me that you could not give me anything specific unless you had more details. Well wouldn’t I be violating the rules that DCYF has put in place if I start discussing child protective cases with you? By the way, I am a practicing paralegal who has also participated in child abuse defense in the past. I quit doing so because I could not bear the heartache of many of the falsely accused parents but even worse, the cries of the children wanting to go home.
I still stand by my original feelings that the Werme’s have only good intentions when it comes to “outing” the bad practices of DCYF.
I personally have witnessed DCYF myself when they took my daughters away–one which was adopted at birth and the other (who was ten years old at the time) I got back just before adjudication (approximately one month later as unfounded). My first daughter was taken because I was 17 years old at the time and in state custody. During that time, I, too, was taken from my parents as well. I was living on my own with a secure job when I was pregnant. As it turns out, my daughter had been set up for adoption six months before I even delivered her because the adoptive parents were elderly and had been on a waiting list for several years.
I have since met my biological daughter. It took me twenty-one years to find her. DCYF conveniently admitted in the past during a court case with my daughter and her child (that ironically they were trying to file an ex parte petition on) that I was the “biological mother” of the respondent. How is it that I was not the biological mother when she was a child herself but now that she is a young adult with children of her own, I am her mother. Go figure! Yes, I do have it in writing.
I no longer have small children to worry about being taken from me so I have nothing to gain by defending the Werme’s. I just think that they are truly sincere people trying to do right by the law and society. Beside’s, if they are such horrible people, why did DCYF allow them to adopt a child as their own straight out of foster care? They were told the only way they could do so was to retract some pages from their website and to relinquish their license plate (AXDCYF) which has now been changed to FIX169-C. Do you honestly think they are on some kind of vendetta? It would seem that after so many years one would have given up on their cause if that was the case.