A. Except as otherwise provided in the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act, a person shall not, without the authorization of the child, disclose or transmit any confidential information from which a person well-acquainted with the child might recognize the child as the described person or any code, number or other means that could be used to match the child with confidential information regarding the child.

B. When the child is under fourteen years of age, the child's legal custodian is authorized to consent to disclosure on behalf of the child. Information shall also be disclosed to a court-appointed guardian ad litem without consent of the child or the child's legal custodian.

C. A child fourteen years of age or older with capacity to consent to disclosure of confidential information shall have the right to consent to disclosure of mental health and habilitation records. A legal custodian who is authorized to make health care decisions for a child has the same rights as the child to request, receive, examine, copy and consent to the disclosure of medical or other health care information when evidence exists that such a child whose consent to disclosure of confidential information is sought does not have capacity to give or withhold valid consent and does not have a treatment guardian appointed by a court. If the legal custodian is not authorized to make decisions for a child under the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act, the person seeking authorization shall petition the court for the appointment of a treatment guardian to make a decision for such a child.

D. Authorization from the child or legal custodian for a child less than fourteen years of age shall not be required for the disclosure or transmission of confidential information when the disclosure or transmission:

(1) is necessary for treatment of the child and is made in response to a request from a clinician;

(2) is necessary to protect against a clear and substantial risk of imminent serious physical injury or death inflicted by the child on self or another;

(3) is determined by a clinician not to cause substantial harm to the child and a summary of the child's assessment, treatment plan, progress, discharge plan and other information essential to the child's treatment is made to a child's legal custodian or guardian ad litem;

(4) is to the primary caregiver of the child and the information disclosed was necessary for the continuity of the child's treatment in the judgment of the treating clinician who discloses the information;

(5) is to an insurer contractually obligated to pay part or all of the expenses relating to the treatment of the child at the residential facility. The information disclosed shall be limited to data identifying the child, facility and treating or supervising physician and the dates and duration of the residential treatment. It shall not be a defense to an insurer's obligation to pay that the information relating to the residential treatment of the child, apart from information disclosed pursuant to this section, has not been disclosed to the insurer;

(6) is to a protection and advocacy representative pursuant to the federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act and the federal Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act; or

(7) is pursuant to a court order issued for good cause shown after notice to the child and the child's legal custodian and opportunity to be heard is given. Before issuing an order requiring disclosure, the court shall find that:

(a) other ways of obtaining the information are not available or would not be effective; and

(b) the need for the disclosure outweighs the potential injury to the child, the clinician-child relationship and treatment services.

E. A disclosure ordered by the court shall be limited to the information that is essential to carry out the purpose of the disclosure. Disclosure shall be limited to those persons whose need for the information forms the basis for the order. An order by the court shall include such other measures as are necessary to limit disclosure for the protection of the child, including sealing from public scrutiny the record of a proceeding for which disclosure of a child's record has been ordered.

F. An authorization given for the transmission or disclosure of confidential information shall not be effective unless it:

(1) is in writing and signed; and

(2) contains a statement of the child's right to examine and copy the information to be disclosed, the name or title of the proposed recipient of the information and a description of the use that may be made of the information.

G. The child has a right of access to confidential information about the child and has the right to make copies of information about the child and submit clarifying or correcting statements and other documentation of reasonable length for inclusion with the confidential information. The statements and other documentation shall be kept with the relevant confidential information, shall accompany it in the event of disclosure and shall be governed by the provisions of this section to the extent the statements or other documentation contain confidential information. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit the denial of access to the records when a physician or other mental health or developmental disabilities professional believes and notes in the child's medical records that the disclosure would not be in the best interests of the child. In all cases, the child has the right to petition the court for an order granting access.

H. Information concerning a child disclosed under this section shall not be released to any other person, agency or governmental entity or placed in files or computerized data banks accessible to any persons not otherwise authorized to obtain information under this section. Notwithstanding the confidentiality provisions of the Delinquency Act [Chapter 32A, Article 2 NMSA 1978] and the Abuse and Neglect Act [Article 32A, Article 4 NMSA 1978], information disclosed under this section shall not be re-released without the express consent of the child or legal custodian authorized under the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act to give consent and any other consent necessary for redisclosure in conformance with state and federal law, including consent that may be required from the professional or the facility that created the document.

I. Nothing in the Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act shall limit the confidentiality rights afforded by federal statute or regulation.

J. The department shall promulgate rules for implementing disclosure of records pursuant to this section and in compliance with state and federal law and the Children's Court Rules [10-101 NMRA].

History: Laws 2007, ch. 162, § 24; 2008, ch. 75, § 6.

Cross references. — For the federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 6001.

For the federal Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act of 1991, see 42 U.S.C. § 10801.

For provisions of the 1995 Children's Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Act, relating to disclosure of information, see the 2006 NMSA 1978 (32A-6-15) on NMOneSource.com.

The 2008 amendment, effective May 14, 2008, in Subsection D, provided that authorization from the legal custodian for a child less than fourteen year of age shall not be required if the listed conditions apply.