Law & Ethics for Professionals who Support System Involved Youth

Daniel O. Taube, JD, PhD

Training Description

Meeting ethical and legal standards is foundational for the provision of competent services and support for system involved youth. Many dimensions of these standards are clear and have remained constant over the years. Yet others continue to evolve, and mental health and social services professionals routinely confront complex and ambiguous ethical and legal situations. The purpose of this course is to give those who serve and support system involved youth an opportunity to renew and sharpen their ability to engage in knowledgeable and effective ethical decision-making, and understand and apply ethical and legal standards to challenges inherent within efforts to serve and support children, adolescents and families. The course also has the goal of assisting participants in better managing the risks inherent in providing services and support to system involved youth and families. The workshop will begin with a discussion of challenges to and methods of addressing the quality of ethical decision making, with an emphasis on common biases and judgement errors, and steps to reduce judgements in decisions, generally. The course then will turn its focus to a particular kind of bias, racism and barriers to equity for traditionally marginalized communities in mental healthcare and social services and will present models to help increase access and equity. Confidentiality, it’s limits [e.g. case law and statutory developments in the California duty to protect (e.g., Turner v. Rivera, 2021), child abuse reporting law, and elder/depending adult abuse reporting developments] will be discussed, as will the implications of the Information Blocking rule and the No Surprises Act. Issues regarding the remote and hybrid services and support will also be explored. This workshop will conclude by assisting professionals in navigating efforts to serve and support high conflict, system-involved families. If time permits, we will discuss preventing and managing licensing board complaints. This course meets and exceeds the Board of Psychology's mandated ethics and law update requirement, and the Board of Behavioral Sciences 6 hour update requirement.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, participants will be able to:

· Identify three strategies to address cognitive/affective decision-making errors and two models for  challenging racism and bias within efforts to support system involved youth.

· Define two techniques for reducing the potentially negative impact of “Open Notes” on system involved youth and three aspects of navigating remote support for system involved youth.

· Identify two developments in California child abuse reporting standards and duty to protect and two key steps in addressing risks when working with high conflict system involved families.

Agenda

9:00-10:00am

· Introduction

· Purposes and structure of workshop

· Ethics, judgement and decision-bias

· Cognitive and affective heuristics

10:00-10:07am

· Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

10:07-11:10am

· Ethics and Cognitive and affective heuristics (continued)

· The interplay of client/patient vulnerability and decision-making bias

· Five steps toward improving ethical/clinical decision-making processes: consultation, informed consent (including a review of the No Surprises Act), documentation, structured decision-making, and self-care

· Ethics, oppression and diversity; power differentials and the potential to harm

11:10-11:18am

· Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

11:18-12:30pm

· Ethical principles of doing no harm in the context of oppression and diversity;

· Methods of developing and maintaining an ethical approach to diversity and belonging: Sue et al., Kemp, and Ross.

· Remote practice: changes during and after the pandemic

· Guidelines, standards of care and laws/regulations related to the provision telemental health services

12:30-1:30pm

· Lunch break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

1:30-2:30pm

· Remote services across jurisdictions; further guidelines and considerations (continued)

· Privacy/confidentiality; Tarasoff and the duty to protect (limitations due to technology; background and issues from Biakanja, 1958, to Rosen v. UC Regents, 2018 to Turner v. Rivera, 2021; practical steps).

· Child abuse reporting updates/changes; AB 1775 and Matthews v. Bercerra (2019, rehearing August 2022); AB 1145 (September, 2020); immunity and related cases).

· The Cures Act and the “Open Notes” (information blocking) rule

2:30-2:37pm

· Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

2:37-3:30pm

· Open notes and immediate access to records

· Approaches to reducing the likelihood of harm due to immediate record access

· Record keeping methods and collaborative documentation

· Working with high conflict families: consent and records access by legal guardians and minors

3:30-3:38pm

· Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

3:38-4:30pm

· California constitutional standards and statutory approaches

· Exceptions to parental/legal guardian consent and records access (e.g., Vilches v. Leao, 93 Cal. App. 5th 1335, 2023)

· Steps to address risks of harm in high-conflict family treatment

· Preventing and managing licensing board complaints: ethical and risk issues (time permitting)

Meet Our Trainer

Daniel O. Taube earned his JD/PhD from Villanova University and Hahnemann University (1985 and 1987, respectively), as a member of the Joint Psychology and Law Graduate Program. He is Professor Emeritus at the California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, San Francisco, is currently a member of The American Insurance Trust’s Risk Management team, and regularly consults across the country with a wide range of practitioners and community agencies regarding standards of practice and ethical concerns. His areas of professional focus include ethical and legal issues in professional practice, child protection and addictions.

This course meets the qualifications for (6.0) BBS CE hours for LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.