Disclosure of Confidential Child Abuse and Neglect Records - North Dakota
Confidentiality of Records
Citation: Cent. Code § 50-25.1-11
All reports made under this chapter, as well as any other information obtained, are confidential and must be made available to persons listed below.
Persons or Entities Allowed Access to Records
Citation: Cent. Code § 50-25.1-11
Reports and information shall be made available to the following:
- A physician who reasonably suspects that a child may have been abused or neglected
- A person who is authorized to place a child in protective custody when necessary to determine whether to place the child in protective custody
- Authorized staff of the Department of Human Services, children's advocacy centers, appropriate State and local child protection team members, or citizen review committee members
- Any person who is the subject of a report
- Public officials and their authorized agents who require the information in connection with the discharge of their official duties
- A court, including an administrative hearing office, when it is necessary for the determination of an issue before it
- A person engaged in bona fide research
- An individual who has made a report of suspected child abuse or neglect, if the child is likely to or continues to come before the reporter in his or her official or professional capacity
- A parent or a legally appointed guardian of a child who is suspected of being or having been abused or neglected, provided the identity of persons making the report or supplying information under this chapter is protected
- A public or private school that is the subject of a report of institutional child abuse or neglect, provided the identity of the persons reporting or supplying the information under this chapter is protected, except if the individuals reporting or supplying information are employees of the public or private school
In accordance with § 50-25.1-04.1, the department may notify a residential facility or setting's board of directors and any entity that accredits the facility or setting of the institutional child abuse or neglect indicated determination, written report of the State child protection team, the approved improvement plan, and areas of deficiency that resulted in the notification.
If a public or private school is the subject of a report of institutional child abuse or neglect, any records and information obtained, created, generated, or gathered by the public or private school in response to the report or during an investigation by the public or private school of the alleged conduct set forth in the report are confidential until the State child protection team determines whether institutional child abuse or neglect is indicated.
When Public Disclosure of Records is Allowed
This issue is not addressed in the statutes reviewed.
Use of Records for Employment Screening
Citation: Cent. Code § 50-25.1-11
The department shall notify the owner, operator, holder of a self-declaration, or in-home provider and the parent or legally appointed guardian of a child receiving early childhood services under chapter 50-11.1 of the name of the subject and provide a summary of the facts and the results of a child protection assessment conducted under this chapter if the report involves the owner, operator, holder of a self-declaration, in-home provider, adult or minor staff member, or household member of the early childhood program, self-declaration, or the in-home provider who is providing care to the child.