Confidentiality issues

Ministry staff must follow certain rules of confidentiality. For example, ministry staff cannot:

• tell you who made a report about you,
• give people they interview any information about you and your family,
• give your name or information about you to anyone not involved, or
• discuss your case with your advocate without your written permission.

On the other hand, ministry staff investigating a complaint are allowed to:

• share the information they gather with supervisors, child protection consultants, other ministry team members, the police, and the ministry lawyer, and
• record information gathered and keep it in a computer and a paper file.

In some circumstances, the ministry might ask you to sign a release or a waiver of confidentiality. Before you sign a release, you should understand clearly what you are allowing someone to do on your behalf or what private documents you are allowing someone to look at. If you have a lawyer, ask your lawyer's advice about signing a release. If you do not have a lawyer and are not sure what to do, get advice from an advocate or family duty counsel (free lawyers available at most courthouses) about whether or not to sign.

The ministry may also want personal information from your therapist or doctor. Neither should give the ministry confidential information about you, unless he or she has concerns about your children's safety or you have signed a release.

If the complaint against you becomes a court proceeding between you and the ministry, you and your lawyer have the right to see all the information the ministry has about your case. This includes all reports or letters written about the investigation. Remember that court proceedings are public except on the rare occasion when a judge closes the court (usually because of concerns that publicity could hurt the child).

Whether or not you go to court, you may get a copy of the information in your ministry file. You can apply to get this information under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act.

For more information about how to access your file, call the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia through one of the following numbers:

In Victoria: 250-387-5629

Or

Call Enquiry BC toll free at one of the numbers below and ask to be transferred to (250) 387-5629:

In Vancouver: 604-660-2421

In the rest of BC: 1-800-663-7867

A lawyer representing you in dealings with the ministry is bound by lawyer-client confidentiality. This means that your lawyer cannot tell anyone about your conversations with him or her without your permission. Lawyer-client confidentiality ensures that you will feel comfortable giving your lawyer information that you do not want to give anyone else.

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