Legal Question in Family Law in California

Can someone point me in the direction to find the CA legal code that requires psychologists, teachers, doctors etc to report when they are told of a persons desires and intention to hurt them selves. My step daughter planned, researched and prepared a "kit" on how to hang herself at her mothers home, and informed her counselor of these facts and details. The counselor not only did not report it to any agency but kept this information from the father who has shared legal custody.


Asked on 1/08/10, 12:50 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

I am not aware of any such code or other legal requirment. There are code provisions that eliminate the evidentiary psychologist/patient privilege where the patient is going to harm others, and that allow licensed psycological professionals to be sued if a patient directly discloses an intent to harm others and then does so and the professional does nothing to stop it. There are also mandatory reporting for child abuse and elder abuse. But I am not familiar with any requirement that a school counselor, whether a licensed psychological professional or not, report a minor's intention to harm themselves. There may be law allowing them to be sued if there is a clear and imminent threat of self harm that the counselor knew or should have known would actually be carried out, and there are laws governing self-abuse that has already occurred, but again that is not the same as a duty to breach the child's confidence by disclosing. For the record, I don't agree with this situation, but that is the current status of the law as I understand it.

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Answered on 1/13/10, 2:19 pm


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