This is just an fyi to the parents in Bedford. Now that it looks like your school is becoming a mental health facility for your children, you need to be aware of federal law. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires your consent on any assessment or treatment when it comes to the mental health of your children.
You might want to make sure that when they are dabbling in the mental health of your children, it is with a Child Psychologist–who holds a Ph.D. That way those who are treating your children’s mental health, understand the importance of data privacy, and your consent.
The American Psychological Association requires all licensed child Psychologists to follow a strict code of ethics. You must consent for them to assess and treat their patients. Anyone who is dabbling in your child’s mental health should be licensed, and follow a code of ethics that requires your informed consent. Some of the counselors working in our public schools are not licensed and may not be subjected to following this ethical code.
You might want to also ask about the credentials of those dabbling in mental health within the school. Many teachers are not happy about this, especially since they have children in public school. Like many parents, they want teachers to focus on academics. Any child that needs mental health treatment should be handled by educated and trained professionals outside the school’s system. They are the ones with the education and clinical training to assess and treat your child’s mental health.
Why is there no provision in this policy about parental consent?
What about all of that mental health data they will be collecting on your children. If it’s collected by a digital source, why is there nothing in the policy about data security? Where does this data go? Who has access to your child’s mental health data? Vendors almost never have a full-proof privacy policy. Go read them. You will see that under certain circumstances, they can share your child’s sensitive data.
Will this be a mental health dossier as described by this New Hampshire Physician? How will their mental health data be shared in the future? Will the data be shared with colleges/universities? How about the military, if your child decides to go that route? How will you even know if there is no provision that spells this out?
Now that the federal privacy rights law was gutted under President Obama, data on your children can be shared with the U.S. Department of Labor. President Obama’s Secretary of Education also set up a de-facto national database during his tenure. All states now have a State Longitudinal Data-Base because of the money that was given to the Departments of Education through Race to the Top money. How about within this policy it says something about never sharing mental health data without parental consent? Or a policy that says you don’t want any mental health data collected, stored or shared on your children?
Federal law requires your consent. From Every Student Succeeds Act:
How can you opt your child out of this?
Teachers can certainly receive training on how to handle behavior issues that arise, but when it comes to their mental health, our children deserve to be assessed and treated by the professionals in that field.
There is a school board meeting next week. This might be a good time to start asking questions and request to shoot this policy down if you do not get the answers you ask for.
