Ch. 1 Professional Orientation and Ethical Practice (2)

1.1.2.3. U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)
The U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a civil rights act, protects individuals with disabilities from being discriminated against or denied equal access to services and opportunities because of their disability, IDEA being one of those protections. Often, in a school setting, students who do not qualify for special education services under IDEA may be eligible for accommodations under Section 504, which has a more inclusive definition of disability. Unlike IDEA, Section 504 applies not only to educational institutions receiving federal funds but also to any organization or employer in the United States receiving federal funds.
  Key Points of Section 504
- Eligible individuals must have a physical or psychological impairment that substantially limits at least one major life activity. These major life activities include walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working, performing manual tasks, learning, and caring for oneself.
- To receive consideration, individuals must also be viewed as having the disability or have documentation of the disability, and it must interfere with their ability to meet their needs.
- In a school setting, when a student indicates a need, a multidisciplinary team meets to assess the students' eligibility under Section 504. If eligible, a 504 plan is constructed, which dictates the accommodations or other special considerations the student is entitled to receive. The team looks at multiple sources of information when determining students' eligibility, including any test scores, grades, educational records, and medical documentation.
- Although there exists a whole host of possible accommodations a student may be given, a few examples of accommodations that school personnel make for eligible individuals include building ramps and installing elevators for students who are wheelchair bound or injured, giving students more time to complete tests or other classroom tasks, and allowing students to use laptop computers to take notes.

1.1.2.4 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
HIPAA is a federal law, passed in 1996, to protect the privacy of individuals' medical and mental health records. Under HIPAA, patients are given rights to control who can view their health records as well as the ability to inspect their own medical record and request that changes be incorporated. HIPAA applies to doctors, nurses, hospitals, clinics, insurance companies, health maintenance organizations, Medicare, Medicaid, mental health professionals, and a variety of other health care providers. In fact, it would be difficult to find a health care provider who is not subject to the stipulations outlined in HIPAA, so understanding this law is essential to avoid violating the confidentiality of private client information.
  Key Points of HIPAA
- All patients must be given a copy of the HIPAA privacy policy, which outlines their rights, with whom their protected health information (PHI) - that is, individually identifiable health information- might be shared, and the procedures to request that their information not be released to certain parties.
- Patients, for their part, are required to sign a document affirming that they have received information on HIPAA.
- Health organizations must secure all PHI from unauthorized individuals and organizations.
- A counselor following HIPAA must allow clients to view their records and petition for changes to the counselor's notes if they believe any information is false or inaccurate.

 

1.1.2.5 Child Abuse and Neglect
The federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) defines child abuse and neglect as "Any reent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or, an act or failure to act which presents an imminent risk of serious harm".
  Key Points of CAPTA
- Any counselor who suspects child abuse or neglect is required by law to report the suspicion to the local child protective services (CPS) agency within 72 hours from the time of first awareness of the potentially abusive or neglectful event (Linde, 2007). Counselors also must submit a written report to CPS after submitting the initial account.
- Anyone who reports suspected abuse or neglect will not be held liable, even if CPS fails to find any evidence supporting the claim during the investigation (Linde, 2007), unless a false report was filed with malicious intent.
- The ACA Code of Ethics (2005) upholds this legal duty, allowing counselors to ethically break confidentiality to protect a client from a potentially dangerous situation.

 

1.1.2.6 Counseling Minors
When counseling minors, particularly in a nonschool setting, it is crucial for counselors to obtain informed consent from the parents or legal guardian and assent, or agreement, of minors before any counseling begins. The necessity of informed consent in school systems ordinarily is dictated by local school or state policies.
  Key Points of Informed Consent
- During the informed consent and assent process, minors and their parents must receive details on what they can expect from counseling, limitations to confidentiality, and their right to withdraw from treatment at any time.
- Informed consent should be given in writing to parents and explained by the counselor to minors in age-appropriate language so that they are able to make an educated decision about whether they want to enter into th counseling relationship. Some minor children, because of substantial disability (e.g., mental retardation) or age, are unable to give assent for counseling, thus requiring special precautions in care and parental consent.
- All counselors should note that although ethically, the child (if under the age of 18 years) should be able to expect confidentiality, parents still retain the legal right to know what their child discusses in counseling sessions should they choose to exercise that right. Therefore, counselors must carefully balance the needs of both parties to most effectively implement services and must work diligently to uphold the minor's ethical rights whenever feasible.
- Some states allow minors of a certain age to consent to various community health services, including mental health treatment, without parental consent. However, these minor consent laws vary among states, so it is essential to become very familiar with the laws governing the state where you are practicing or plan to practice.
- In a school setting, most professional school counselors are not required to obtain parental consent before delivering counseling services to students, although professional school counselor should familiarize themselves with the policies of their state and local school boards.

 

1.1.3 Accreditation and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
Accreditation is a process that eligible educational institutions and organizations can elect to undergo (i.e., it is voluntary) to demonstrate that the institution meets set standards. Although accreditation applies to many careers and professions, for the purposes of this study guide, we are concerned with educational accreditation.
- An educational institution seeking accreditation must apply to the appropriate association. For example, for colleges and universities to have their counseling programs accredited, they apply to the Counseil for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), the association in charge of the accreditation for the majority of counseling and counseling-related programs, and undergo its accreditation process.
- The purpose of accreditation for educational institutions is to signify to the public that the accredited program's educators and curriculum adhere to specific standards of quality; only those institutions that meet the specified critera become accredited (CACREP, 2009).
- Institutions may seek accreditation for a variety reasons:
   - It increases the institution's status and prestige.
   - It requires institutions to hold themselves accountable for the quality of their program and educators.
   - It encourages colleges and universities to continually evaluate and assess the effective ness of their programs and make changes and improvements as necessary to ensure adherence to the standards of accreditation. Educational institutions accredited by CACREP must undergo and pass the accreditation process every 8 years to retain their certification, so the process of meeting CACREP's standards is ongoing.
   - Students who graduate from an accredited institution may be more marketable than those students graduating from an unaccredited institution because they have succeeded in meeting specified programmatic standards.

 CACREP was established in 1981 to promote excellence in counseling and counseling-related educational programs. CACREP has developed and revised educational standards over the years that insitutions must meet to gain the organization's accreditation approval. (...)
 CACREP accredits master's-level programs in addiction counseling; clinical mental health counseling; marriage, couple, and family counseling; school counseling; student affairs and college counseling; and doctoral-level programs in counselor education and supervision. Currently, more than 220 universities in the United States have received CACREP accreditation.