26-8A-13.1. Certain child protection records to be provided to the court, court services, state's attorney, or agencies--Discovery--Fees.
Notwithstanding the provisions of §26-8A-13, or any other statute to the contrary, in any case that a child is under the jurisdiction of the court pursuant to chapter 26-8B or 26-8C, upon a request for information, the Department of Social Services shall, with due regard to any federal laws or regulations in the following instances:
(1)Conduct a child abuse and neglect central registry check and provide the results to the court, court services, or the state's attorney to determine the appropriateness of returning a child to the parents or placing the child with another caretaker at any time during the pendency of the proceedings;
(2)For a child committed to the Department of Corrections, conduct a child abuse and neglect central registry check and provide the results to the Department of Corrections for purposes of determining the appropriateness of returning a child to the parents or placing the child with another caretaker; and
(3)For a child committed to the Department of Corrections, release copies of, or the equivalent to, the child's: request for services history summary, initial family assessments, court reports, and family service agreements to the Department of Corrections for treatment planning purposes.
Upon receipt of an order of the court, the Department of Social Services shall make its child protection services file related to the child or the child's parents and siblings available to the court, court services, or the state's attorney with the exception of information protected by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, as amended to January 1, 2019, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, as amended to January 1, 2019, and the federal rules governing the confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records pursuant to 42 C.F.R. Part 2, as amended to January 1, 2019. Under no circumstances may the court order the release of information pertaining to pending abuse or neglect investigations.
The information released under this section is discoverable to the parties under the provisions of chapter 26-7A, but is otherwise confidential. However, the court, court services, or the Department of Corrections may release the information in their possession or any portion necessary to institutions and agencies that have legal responsibility or authorization to care for, treat, or supervise a child. The attorneys for the child and respondents may review the records with the child and the respondents but may not copy or release copies of the records. A pro se litigant is entitled to review the records but may not copy or release copies of the records.
The Department of Social Services shall impose reasonable fees for reproduction of its records released under this section. The Department of Social Services shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 for any fee imposed for records reproduction.
Source: SL 2007, ch 166, §1; SL 2019, ch 127, §5.