[tobeafamily]

JJ,

A SW reading part of a homestudy to a pbfamily and a pbfamily being given a copy of a completed homestudy IMHO are not the same things. I've not heard of any situation where a pafamily's homestudy has been 'handed over' to pbfamilies for review, and I've not heard of any situation where pafamilies have had to provide medical records and/or where those medical records were then handed over to pbfamilies to review.

IMHO both are violations of privacy. In the case of medical records there are laws (Privacy Act of 1964 and HIPAA act of 1996) that protect the confidentiality of these records. Violations - release to any party not authorized by the patient- carry very high fines. In at least portions of the homestudy - CPS checks, criminal background checks, etc. at least in Virginia it's also a violation of state law to release these records to any third-party without express written consent.

The agency we worked with assured us in writing that the contents of our homestudy were private, they would not be 'reviewed' by any pbparents who contacted them under any circumstances. When we asked they told us that was SOP and that no ethical professional would behave otherwise. They gave us a copy, of course, of their report and told us we were welcome to share/not share as we saw fit. Because the homestudy report does contain some very personal information, they discouraged us from sharing it though unless we felt it absolutely necessary.

IMHO

Regina