§ 47.56. Confidentiality—waived.
To protect children from abuse, the reporting requirements of § § 47.52—47.54 (relating to suspected child abuse—mandated reporting requirements; photographs of child subject to report; and suspected death as a result of child abuse—mandated reporting requirement) take precedence over the provisions of any client confidentiality, ethical principle or professional standard that might otherwise apply. In accordance with 23 Pa.C.S. § 6311.1 (relating to privileged communications), privileged communications between a mandated reporter and a patient/client does not apply to a situation involving child abuse and does not relieve the mandated reporter of the duty to make a report of suspected child abuse. Additionally, under 23 Pa.C.S. § 6313(e) (relating to reporting procedure), notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a mandated reporter who makes a report of suspected child abuse does not violate the Mental Health Procedures Act (50 P.S. § § 7101—7503) by releasing information necessary to complete the report.
Authority The provisions of this § 47.56 issued under the Child Protective Services Law, 23 Pa.C.S. § 6383(b)(2); and section 6 of the Social Workers’ Practice Act (63 P.S. § 1906); amended under section 6(2) of the Social Workers, Marriage Family Therapists and Professional Counselors Act (63 P.S. § 1906(2)); and 23 Pa.C.S. § § 6301—6388.
Source The provisions of this § 47.56 adopted November 8, 1996, effective November 9, 1996, 26 Pa.B. 5435; amended March 18, 2022, effective March 19, 2022, 52 Pa.B. 1608. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (382842).
Cross References This section cited in 49 Pa. Code § 47.51 (relating to definitions relating to child abuse reporting requirements); and 49 Pa. Code § 47.79 (relating to mandatory reporting).
No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.
This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Code full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.
