2010 California Code
Welfare and Institutions Code
Chapter 12.9. Integrated Children's Services Programs

18986.40.  (a) For the purposes of this chapter, "program" or
"integrated children's services programs" means a coordinated
children's service system, operating as a program that is part of a
department or State Department of Mental Health initiative, that
offers a full range of integrated behavioral social, health, and
mental health services, including applicable educational services, to
seriously emotionally disturbed and special needs children, or
programs established by county governments, local education agencies,
or consortia of public and private agencies, to jointly provide two
or more of the following services to children or their families, or
both:
   (1) Educational services for children at risk of dropping out, or
who need additional educational services to be successful
academically.
   (2) Health care.
   (3) All mental health diagnostic and treatment services, including
medication.
   (4) Substance abuse prevention and treatment.
   (5) Child abuse prevention, identification, and treatment.
   (6) Nutrition services.
   (7) Child care and development services.
   (8) Juvenile justice services.
   (9) Child welfare services.
   (10) Early intervention and prevention services.
   (11) Crisis intervention services, as defined in subdivision (c).
   (12) Any other service which will enhance the health, development,
and well-being of children and their families.
   (b) For the purposes of this chapter, "children's
multidisciplinary services team" means a team of two or more persons
trained and qualified to provide one or more of the services listed
in subdivision (a), who are responsible in the program for
identifying the educational, health, or social service needs of a
child and his or her family, and for developing a plan to address
those needs. A family member, or the designee of a family member,
shall be invited to participate in team meetings and decisions,
unless the team determines that, in its professional judgment, this
participation would present a reasonable risk of a significant
adverse or detrimental effect on the minor's psychological or
physical safety. Members of the team shall be trained in the
confidentiality and information sharing provisions of this chapter.
   (c) "Crisis intervention services" means early support and
psychological assistance, to be continued as necessary, to children
who have been victims of, or whose lives have been affected by, a
violent crime or a cataclysmic incident, such as a natural disaster,
or who have been involved in school, neighborhood, or family based
critical incidents likely to cause profound psychological effects if
not addressed immediately and thoroughly.



18986.46.  (a) A program shall utilize children's multidisciplinary
services teams, as defined in this chapter.
   (b) A team member shall provide program services only as employed
by, under contract with, or otherwise affiliated with, the program,
and shall not share information, or provide program services, when
acting as a separate local, state, or private agency or entity.
   (c) A program shall be considered a single program for purposes of
federal substance abuse program regulations contained in Part 2
(commencing with Section 2.1) of Title 42 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.
   (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law regarding
disclosure of information and records, a program shall be permitted
to establish a unified services record for a child and family. That
record shall contain all records of prior services that are released
to the program and that are relevant and necessary to formulate an
integrated services plan, pursuant to valid written authorizations,
as well as a record of all service provided under the program.
   (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law regarding
disclosure of information and records, when a child enters the
program a parent, guardian, judicial office with jurisdiction over
the minor, or a minor with legal power to consent, shall be asked to
sign a single authorization that gives a knowing and informed
consent, in writing, and that complies with all other applicable
provisions of state law governing release of medical, mental health,
social service, and educational records, and that covers multiple
service providers, in order to permit the release of records to the
program. This single authorization shall not include adoption
records. The authorized representative of the child, or the child in
a case where he or she has the legal right to consent, shall be fully
apprised of the requirements of this subdivision prior to
participation in the program. Before information may be exchanged
about a particular child or family pursuant to this chapter, a
representative of the program shall do all of the following:
   (1) Explain to the authorized representative of the child, or the
child in a case where he or she has the legal right to consent, both
of the following, and this explanation shall be given before any
information about the child or family is recorded and before any
services are provided:
   (A) Information provided by the child or family may only be
exchanged within the program with the express written consent of the
authorized representative.
   (B) Information shall not be disclosed to anyone other than
members of the multidisciplinary children's services team, and those
qualified to receive information as explained in subdivision (i).
   (2) The authorized representative of the child, or the child in a
case where he or she has the legal right to consent, shall be
informed that he or she has a right to refuse to sign, or to limit
the scope of, the consent form, and that a refusal to sign, or to
limit the scope of, the consent form will not have an adverse impact
on the client's eligibility for services under the programs described
in this chapter.
   (f) The knowing and informed consent given pursuant to this
chapter shall only be in force for the time that the child or family
is a client of the program.
   (g) (1) Notwithstanding any provision of state law governing the
disclosure of information and records, persons who are trained,
qualified, and assigned by their respective agencies to serve on
teams within a program and other team members included pursuant to
this chapter may view relevant sections of unified program records
and may disclose to one another relevant information and view records
on a child or the child's family as necessary to formulate an
integrated services plan or to deliver services to children and their
families.
   (2) This information and records may include information relevant
to the evaluation of the child and his or her family, the development
of a treatment plan for the child and his or her family, and the
delivery of services. Relevant information and records shall be
shared with family members or family designees on the team, except
information or records, if any, disclosure of which the team
determines would present a reasonable risk of a significant adverse
or detrimental effect on the minor's psychological or physical
safety.
   (h) (1) If the members of a multidisciplinary services team within
an integrated children's services program require records held by
other team members, copies may be provided to them.
   (2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law regarding
disclosure of information and records, a program may establish and
maintain a common data base for the purpose of delivering services
under the program. The data base may contain demographic data and may
identify the services recommended for, and provided to, a child and
his or her family by the program. The data base shall be for use and
disclosure only within the program, except by properly authorized
consent by a parent, guardian, judicial officer with jurisdiction
over the child, or a minor with the legal power to consent.
   (3) The program may authorize use of information contained in the
data base for bona fide evaluation and research purposes, unless
otherwise prohibited by law. No information disclosed under this
paragraph shall permit identification of the individual patient or
client. The release of copies of mental health records, physical
health records, and drug or alcohol records in programs establishing
a unified services record shall be governed by the single
authorization of informed and knowing consent to release these
records. In programs not establishing a unified services record and
not utilizing the single authorization of informed and knowing
consent, release of these records may take place only after the team
has received a form permitting release of records on the child or the
child's family, signed by the child, to the extent the records were
generated as a result of health care services to which the child has
the power to consent under state law, or, to the extent that the
records have not been generated by the provision of these health care
services, by the child's parent, guardian, or legal representative,
including the court which has jurisdiction over those children who
are wards or dependents of the court.
   (i) The multidisciplinary team may designate persons qualified
pursuant to Section 18986.40 to be a member of the team for a
particular case. A person designated as a team member pursuant to
this subdivision may receive and disclose relevant information and
records, subject to the confidentiality provisions of subdivision
(k).
   (j) The sharing of information permitted under subdivision (g)
shall be governed by memoranda of understanding among the
participating service providers or agencies in the coordinated
children's service system or program. These memoranda shall specify
the types of information that may be shared without a signed release
form, in accordance with subdivision (e), and the process to be used
to ensure that current confidentiality requirements, as described in
subdivision (k), are met. This paragraph shall not be construed to
waive any right of privilege contained in the Evidence Code, except
in compliance with Section 912 of that code.
   (k) Every member of the children's multidisciplinary services team
who receives information or records on children and families served
in the integrated children's services program shall be under the same
privacy and confidentiality obligations and subject to the same
confidentiality penalties as the person disclosing or providing the
information or records. The information or records obtained shall be
maintained in a manner that ensures the maximum protection of privacy
and confidentiality rights.
   (l) This section shall not be construed to restrict guarantees of
confidentiality provided under federal law.
   (m) Information and records communicated or provided to the
program, by all providers, programs, and agencies, as well as
information and records created by the program in the course of
serving its children and their families, shall be deemed private and
confidential and shall be protected from discovery and disclosure by
all applicable statutory and common law protections. Civil and
criminal penalties shall apply to the inappropriate disclosure of
information held by the program. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to affect the authority of a health care provider to
disclose medical information pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision
(c) of Section 56.10 of the Civil Code.