I think SS statements would be correct. As far as the threshold of alert, I would say it is prior knowledge of a illegal upcoming event, which would place the client in 72hr observation, and possibly destroy any trust bond that existed. So the LE would not be called unless there was reason to believe a crime will be committed. Anything else on past crimes is hearsay and unless the client would be willing to testify is useless.
That is the way I see it.
While I realize "
That is the way [you] see it," I do hope, as a mental health provider (MHP), your informed consent covers the following two legal exceptions to the confidentiality clause.
- Duty to report => if the MHP suspects their client is abusing a child, the MHP must report said "suspected abuse" to the proper authorities. This is a direct result of the 1974 CAPTA legislation.
- Duty to warn => if the client conveys a threat of future harm to a known party, the MHP must not only contact LE but must also make a reasonable effort to contact the potential victim. This ruling was a direct result of Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California
As far as the 72-hour hold bit? Involuntary psychiatric holds vary from state to state and are expressly dependent upon the state's MH treatment codes. For example, Florida has a 72 hour hold, under the "
Baker Act," California has a 72 hour hold, referred to as a "
5150" under the "
Lanterman-Petris-Short Act," and Pennsylvania has a 120 hour hold under the "
Mental Health Procedures Act." What "
involuntary psychiatric holds" do share however is the basic criteria of a person being a danger to self or others. The latter, not to be confused with "
duty to warn." Furthermore, an MHP
cannot put anyone on a psychiatric hold. In fact, LE are responsible for putting an individual on psychiatric hold by transporting said individual to a designated facility, at which point an acting licensed physician (PhD or MD) is the only one who can release the individual from the hold prior to the maximum alloted hold time as designated by that state's MH treatment code.
As for the HIPAA bit? HIPAA was enacted in 1996 to address electronic storage and communications issues for insurance providers, primarily, and actuarial researchers, secondarily. Under HIPAA, as with paper records, electronic records must be kept for a minimum of 7 years. Additionally, the stored data must be deidentified and the electronic transfer of data must conform to x.25 protocol as set forth by the HIPAA steering committee. And finally, while confidentiality—which has been around since well before anyone ever dreamed up the HIPAA acronym—is the basis of this law, HIPAA addresses a very narrow area with regard to confidentiality rules. Or otherwise put, HIPAA simply does not apply to this particular discussion.
