St. Leonard's Community Services

All registered clients of St. Leonard’s Community Services are entitled to access their client file by making a written request to the Manager or delegate.

Client reports provided by another Agency will not bereleased to the client by St. Leonard’s Community Services. However, the client will be assisted by St. Leonard’s Community Services to access reports from the original source.

All documents containing confidential client information are the property of St. Leonard’s Community Services.

PROCEDURE

A client may access his/her client file by writing to the Manager, who will respond within 30 calendar days. The client’s request and the Manager’s response are filed in the client file. A parent/guardian/caregiver may access the client file by writing to the Manager who will respond within 30 days. The parent/guardian/caregiver request and the Manager’s response are filed in the client file. The parent/guardian/caregiver will be required to provide identification prior to accessing the client file. For youth justice clients, Ministry representatives will be contacted by the Service Director or delegate and advised of what information is being requested in order to determine if a court order will be required prior to any disclosure.

In consultation with the client’s parent/guardian/caregiver, the Counsellor (Primary Worker), CAS, the Probation Officer and other community stakeholders, the Manager decides if there should be any limitations placed on access to information in the file.

Conditions warranting access limitations include:

Clients, 12 or older who initiated counselling without providing consent for their family to access the client file.
Parents/guardians/caregivers of a client under age 16 whomay withhold consent to release some family history to this client.
The Manager may deny a client access to information in his/her file if access could jeopardize the security of the program or result in physical or emotional harm to the client or a third party.
The Manager will deny access to reports in the client file written by other service providers. Clients will be assisted to access reports directly with the other service provider.

The staff member limiting access will explain the reasons to the client in a sensitive manner and document this communication in the client’s file.

When access to all or part of the client file is limited, the person requesting access must be informed of his/her right to have the decision reviewed by the Service Director and/or the Executive Director. The individual(s) will also be informed of his/her rights, as detailed in the client complaint procedure (See Client Service Policy 10-160 Client Complaints).

When there is parental/guardian/caregiver knowledge of the client’s involvement with the Agency, access to portions of the client file that pertain to the parent/guardian/caregiver will not be released to a client less than 16 years of age, untilthe consent of the parent/guardian/caregiver has been obtained.

The client will be given either limited or unlimited access, to his/her client file in a private location in the presence of staff authorized to have access to the file. The staff’s role is to facilitate the client’s understanding of the information. The information will be presented in a manner that is consistent with the client’s level of understanding and in the best interest of the client.

Access to the file, presentation and any reproduction of its contentswill be documented in a case note (refer to Documenting 2-50 Case Notes). Information pertinent to the client only may be copied by the client or the staff who reviewed the file with the client.

Clients will not have access to third party reports, professional working documents (rough notes, partially completed reports, etc.) or reports that contain third party information.

Clients may make a written request to have information in the client file changed. This request and the written response will be placed in the client’s file. If the request is denied, staff will include reasons for the denial in the file. The client may appeal this decision to the Service Director and/or Executive Director as detailedin the client complaint procedure.

As per the Youth Criminal Justice Act privacy provisions, to ensure client confidentiality, caution statementsconcerning unauthorized disclosure of client information are noted in all client files. Clients are advised that they are prohibited from disclosing any file information that is not permitted under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Parents/guardians/caregivers receiving youth justice client information are cautioned under the Youth Criminal Justice Act that disclosure of the file information is prohibited and subject to criminal charges.

POLICY

PROCEDURE