26 Feb You are a counselor working at a publicly funded alcohol and drug treatment program
You are a counselor working at a publicly funded alcohol and drug treatment program. Your client, Doug, attends one of your counseling groups. He has a previous conviction and is on probation for possession of an illegal substance. He also entered treatment as a court-referred client. Doug’s probation officer is aware that Doug is in treatment, and the officer has sent you a letter requesting that you provide a progress report and an assessment of Doug’s likelihood of relapse. The probation officer will use this information, if favorable, to petition the court for Doug’s early release from probation.
Discuss your options and strategies for responding to the probation officer’s request and describe what you would do. Cite relevant legal issues, including federal confidentiality and privacy regulations in your discussion. Identify the specific circumstances when you would provide the information requested by the probation officer. How would you handle this differently if Doug were voluntarily attending the group?
In your response, you must include the specific code(s) from the ACA Code of Ethics or the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors that address the concerns raised in the case. Be sure to provide the full text of the code followed by an in-text citation and a full reference at the end of your response.
To strengthen your response, you may also include citations and references from the Corey text or other assigned readings relevant to the topic.
This discussion question is informed by the following CACREP Standard:
5.C.3.c. Strategies for interfacing with the legal system regarding court-referred clients.
