2010 Nevada Code
TITLE 38 PUBLIC WELFARE
Chapter 432B Protection of Children From Abuse and Neglect
NRS 432B.290 Authorized release of data or information concerning reports and investigations; penalty; regulations.

NRS 432B.290 Authorized release of data or information concerning reports and investigations; penalty; regulations.

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsections 2 and 3 and NRS 432B.165, 432B.175 and 432B.513, data or information concerning reports and investigations thereof made pursuant to this chapter may be made available only to:

(a) A physician, if the physician has before him or her a child who the physician has reasonable cause to believe has been abused or neglected;

(b) A person authorized to place a child in protective custody, if the person has before him or her a child who the person has reasonable cause to believe has been abused or neglected and the person requires the information to determine whether to place the child in protective custody;

(c) An agency, including, without limitation, an agency in another jurisdiction, responsible for or authorized to undertake the care, treatment or supervision of:

(1) The child; or

(2) The person responsible for the welfare of the child;

(d) A district attorney or other law enforcement officer who requires the information in connection with an investigation or prosecution of the abuse or neglect of a child;

(e) A court, for in camera inspection only, unless the court determines that public disclosure of the information is necessary for the determination of an issue before it;

(f) A person engaged in bona fide research or an audit, but information identifying the subjects of a report must not be made available to the person;

(g) The attorney and the guardian ad litem of the child;

(h) A grand jury upon its determination that access to these records is necessary in the conduct of its official business;

(i) A federal, state or local governmental entity, or an agency of such an entity, that needs access to the information to carry out its legal responsibilities to protect children from abuse and neglect;

(j) A person or an organization that has entered into a written agreement with an agency which provides child welfare services to provide assessments or services and that has been trained to make such assessments or provide such services;

(k) A team organized pursuant to NRS 432B.350 for the protection of a child;

(l) A team organized pursuant to NRS 432B.405 to review the death of a child;

(m) A parent or legal guardian of the child and an attorney of a parent or guardian of the child, if the identity of the person responsible for reporting the abuse or neglect of the child to a public agency is kept confidential;

(n) The persons who are the subject of a report;

(o) An agency that is authorized by law to license foster homes or facilities for children or to investigate persons applying for approval to adopt a child, if the agency has before it an application for that license or is investigating an applicant to adopt a child;

(p) Upon written consent of the parent, any officer of this State or a city or county thereof or Legislator authorized, by the agency or department having jurisdiction or by the Legislature, acting within its jurisdiction, to investigate the activities or programs of an agency which provides child welfare services if:

(1) The identity of the person making the report is kept confidential; and

(2) The officer, Legislator or a member of the family of the officer or Legislator is not the person alleged to have committed the abuse or neglect;

(q) The Division of Parole and Probation of the Department of Public Safety for use pursuant to NRS 176.135 in making a presentence investigation and report to the district court or pursuant to NRS 176.151 in making a general investigation and report;

(r) Any person who is required pursuant to NRS 432B.220 to make a report to an agency which provides child welfare services or to a law enforcement agency;

(s) The Rural Advisory Board to Expedite Proceedings for the Placement of Children created pursuant to NRS 432B.602 or a local advisory board to expedite proceedings for the placement of children created pursuant to NRS 432B.604;

(t) The panel established pursuant to NRS 432B.396 to evaluate agencies which provide child welfare services; or

(u) An employer in accordance with subsection 3 of NRS 432.100.

2. An agency investigating a report of the abuse or neglect of a child shall, upon request, provide to a person named in the report as allegedly causing the abuse or neglect of the child:

(a) A copy of:

(1) Any statement made in writing to an investigator for the agency by the person named in the report as allegedly causing the abuse or neglect of the child; or

(2) Any recording made by the agency of any statement made orally to an investigator for the agency by the person named in the report as allegedly causing the abuse or neglect of the child; or

(b) A written summary of the allegations made against the person who is named in the report as allegedly causing the abuse or neglect of the child. The summary must not identify the person responsible for reporting the alleged abuse or neglect.

3. An agency which provides child welfare services shall disclose the identity of a person who makes a report or otherwise initiates an investigation pursuant to this chapter if a court, after reviewing the record in camera and determining that there is reason to believe that the person knowingly made a false report, orders the disclosure.

4. Any person, except for:

(a) The subject of a report;

(b) A district attorney or other law enforcement officer initiating legal proceedings; or

(c) An employee of the Division of Parole and Probation of the Department of Public Safety making a presentence investigation and report to the district court pursuant to NRS 176.135 or making a general investigation and report pursuant to NRS 176.151,

who is given access, pursuant to subsection 1, to information identifying the subjects of a report and who makes this information public is guilty of a misdemeanor.

5. The Division of Child and Family Services shall adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.

(Added to NRS by 1985, 1374; A 1993, 2706; 1997, 835, 849, 2473, 2476; 1999, 559, 561, 1193, 2033, 2035, 2043, 3529, 3531; 2001, 269, 1701, 1841, 2612; 2001 Special Session, 40; 2003, 236, 251; 2005, 2035; 2007, 195)