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Policy
Manual
ADOPTIONS
Adoption Placement Process
48-15-3
Confidentiality
| Policy |
Sharing information which is crucial to understanding the
child must be combined with the mandate to ensure the confidentiality of the birth family. |
| Social Worker Reviews |
The Social Worker reviews what he/she is going to share to be
sure that family identifying information will be eliminated. For example, psychological
reports or school reports of a child require deleting last names, addresses and
information pertaining to anyone other than the child. In certain instances, it means
giving a release of information to physicians and therapists to share their findings of
the child with an adoptive family without identifying birth family information. |
| Birth Family Information Is Confidential |
Copies of reports from the family case record, such as social
studies, status reports, referral summaries, court petitions, etc., cannot be given to a
prospective adoptive family. Although it is very important to share the reasons why
parental rights were terminated, this can be done in general terms without releasing
specific identifying facts. Information shared must not impinge on the rights of the
birth family to privacy. |
Connecticut Department of Children and Families Issued:
March 1, 1994
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