Substance Abuse Confidentiality Laws. The New Jersey Legislature on January 12, 1998 adopted P.L. 1997, c. 362, in accordance with the Governor’s conditional veto recommendations. The law, codified at N.J.S.A.18A:40A-7.1 et seq., and the supportive regulations at N.J.A.C. 6A:16-3.2(a)2 and 6.5, afford confidentiality protections to a public or private secondary school pupil who is participating in a school-based drug or alcohol abuse counseling program where that pupil provides information during the course of the counseling session that indicates that the pupil’s parent or guardian or other person residing in the pupil’s household is dependent upon or illegally using a controlled dangerous substance. The New Jersey confidentiality statute is broader than the federal confidentiality statute and regulations (42 C.F.R. Part 2) in that it applies to any student who is participating in a school-based alcohol or drug abuse counseling program, even if the student is not personally abusing substances, but rather is seeking counseling to deal with the problems related to the substance abuse of another. The federal law, in contrast, only provides confidentiality protections to persons who are “patients,” that is, persons who are receiving counseling for their own substance abuse problem. The state confidentiality law nonetheless features an important exception to the general rule of preserving confidentiality. Specifically, the State law is expressly subject to the provisions of N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.10, and thus does not prevent school officials from disclosing information to Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P) or to a law enforcement agency “if the information would cause a person to reasonably suspect that the secondary school pupil or another child may be an abused or neglected child.” Accordingly, it is understood and agreed that the confidentiality statute in no way relieves the duty established pursuant to N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.10, which requires any citizen, including school district employees, volunteers or interns , to inform both CP&P and a law enforcement agency immediately when there is reasonable cause to believe that a child is or has been abused or neglected.
Substance Abuse Confidentiality Laws. The New Jersey Legislature on January 12, 1998 adopted P.L. 1997, c. 362, in accordance with the Governor’s conditional veto recommendations. The law, codified at N.J.S.A.18A:40A-7.1 et seq., and the supportive regulations at N.J.A.C. 6A:16-3.2(a)2 and 6.5, afford confidentiality protections to a public or private secondary school pupil who is participating in a school-based drug or alcohol abuse counseling program where that pupil provides information during the course of the counseling session that indicates that the pupil’s parent or guardian or other person residing in the pupil’s household is dependent upon or illegally using a controlled dangerous substance. The New Jersey confidentiality statute is broader than the federal confidentiality statute and regulations (42 C.F.R. Part 2) in that it applies to any student who is participating in a school-based alcohol or drug abuse counseling program, even if the student is not personally abusing substances, but rather is seeking counseling to deal with the problems related to the substance abuse of another. The federal law, in contrast, only provides confidentiality protections to persons who are “patients,” that is, persons who are receiving counseling for their own substance abuse problem. The state confidentiality law nonetheless features an important exception to the general rule of preserving confidentiality.
