Confidentiality laws are confusing, and there many of them that overlap, intersect, contradict, and duplicate. Numerous state and federal laws establish confidentiality protections for protective services information received, created, and maintained by county agencies providing social services. There is also a constitutionally recognized right to informational privacy.

The confidentiality protection established by this body of law is not absolute. Laws often try to strike the right balance between protecting an individual’s privacy and supporting other interests or policy objectives, and they are not always consistent or clear. As a result, county social services officials and attorneys often face the difficult task of finding the applicable laws and determining how best to apply them.

This book is intended to help with that process by identifying, describing, and analyzing many of the key federal and state confidentiality laws that apply to disclosure of protective services information by county departments of social services. The book includes:

• an overview of the most general, overarching state law that applies to protective services records, G.S. 108A-80, and the accompanying state regulations,
• an exploration of laws that specifically apply to adult protective services and child protective services,
• a chapter on disclosure of health-related information, and
• an examination of the rights of individuals to access information about themselves that is contained in a protective services record.

This publication is available in print and as an eBook. eBooks can be downloaded and read on your desktop, laptop, and/or a variety of mobile devices with an e-reader application. eBooks are only licensed for use by one individual and cannot be shared. For more information about ebooks, click here. To purchase the eBook version of this publication, click here.

Every day social services agencies in North Carolina must identify, interpret, and apply numerous state and federal confidentiality laws that apply to a range of public assistance and protective services programs. Because there are so many laws to consider, it is sometimes difficult to identify the right laws. In 2002, former School of Government faculty member John Saxon began the process of collecting and summarizing applicable confidentiality laws. This research tool expands on his work and presents it in a different manner. The tool is a database that includes over 250 legal resources, including statutes, regulations, cases, and guidance materials. For each resource identified, the database includes a citation, an external link, a brief summary, and links to other potentially relevant resources. In creating this tool, it was our goal to make it as easy as possible for state and local offiicals to locate and interpret applicable confidentiality laws.

How To Use The Research Tool

The best way to use the information in this database is to use one of the drop down menus to sort the resources by type (e.g., state case, federal statute) or topic (e.g., adult protective services). Users can also click on the column headings to sort the database by citation, type, or topic. There is also is an open text search field, but the sensitivity and accuracy of that search function varies. 

Suggestions or Questions

As you work with the information in the research tool, you may identify broken links, have suggestions for additional resources that should be included, or have questions about a summary. Please contact Aimee Wall (wall@sog.unc.edu) with any and all of these thoughts. Over time, we hope to continue to expand and improve the information in this database so it can best support the work of the state’s social services agencies. 

The first in a series of Social Services Law Bulletins that will address confidentiality and social services. This bulletin examines the general meaning, purposes, nature, scope, and limits of confidentiality.

The second in a series of Social Services Law Bulletins that will address confidentiality and social services. This bulletin examines the legal and quasi-legal sources of rules governing the acquisition, use, protection, and disclosure of confidential information.

The third in a series of Social Services Law Bulletins that will address confidentiality and social services. This bulletin examines what it means to say that information is confidential. It addresses such issues as whether information may never be disclosed or if there are exceptions that allow or require disclosure of confidential information and under what circumstances social services agencies may obtain confidential information from other agencies or individuals.

The fifth in a series of Social Services Law Bulletins that will address confidentiality and social services. This bulletin summarizes the HIPAA privacy rule and discusses its potential impact on county social services departments and the programs they administer.

The sixth in a series of Social Services Law Bulletins that will address confidentiality and social services. This bulletin summarizes the provisions of several federal and state laws, including the Social Security Act, the federal Privacy Act, the State Privacy Act, and the newly-enacted state Identity Theft Protection Act of 2005, governing the collection, use, or disclosure of social security numbers by state and county social services agencies.