Avoiding Liability Bulletin – May 2009
… What if a therapist or counselor learns during the course of providing services that a child is not receiving medical treatment for religious reasons or that the parents have arranged for treatment of a child solely by spiritual means through prayer? Is the therapist or counselor required to report this information to the appropriate governmental agency because it constitutes child abuse/neglect? The answer to this question necessarily depends upon state law and upon the facts and circumstances of each particular situation.
The definition of “neglect” will vary from state to state, sometimes in fine nuance, but generally, it can be defined (as it is in one state) as the negligent treatment or maltreatment of a child by a person responsible for the child’s welfare under circumstances indicating harm or threatened harm to the child’s health or welfare. It involves both acts and omissions on the part of the responsible person. This same state also defines “severe neglect” and “general neglect,” (see below) both of which must be reported by mandated reporters.
“Severe neglect” means the negligent failure of a person having the care or custody of a child to protect the child from severe malnutrition or medically diagnosed non-organic failure to thrive. It also means, among other things, those situations of neglect where any person having the care or custody of a child willfully causes or permits the person or health of the child to be placed in a situation such that his or her person or health is endangered, including the intentional failure to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, or medical care. “General neglect” means the negligent failure of a person having the care or custody of a child to provide adequate food, shelter, clothing, medical care, or supervision where no physical injury to the child has occurred.
In this particular state, the child abuse reporting law contains a provision, under the section dealing with neglect, which specifically addresses the questions asked above. The section states that a child receiving treatment by spiritual means or not receiving specified medical treatment for religious reasons, shall not for that reason alone be considered a neglected child. The law further specifies that it does not constitute neglect if the treatment of a child solely through spiritual means by prayer is rendered in good faith by a duly accredited practitioner of a recognized church or religious denomination and if such treatment is rendered in accordance with the tenets and practices of such church or religious denomination. The statute also says that an informed and appropriate medical decision made by a parent or guardian after consultation with a physician or physicians who have examined the minor does not constitute neglect.
How does the child abuse and neglect reporting law in your state define “neglect” and how does the law treat the issues of treatment of a child by spiritual means or a child not receiving medical treatment for religious reasons? Is a report mandated or permitted under such circumstances?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Leslie
"At the Intersection of Law and Psychotherapy"
Richard S. Leslie is an attorney who has practiced at the intersection of law and psychotherapy for the past twenty-five years. Most recently, he was a consultant to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), where he worked with their various state divisions to develop and implement their legislative agendas. He also provided telephone consultation services to AAMFT members regarding legal and ethical issues confronting practitioners of diverse licensure nationwide. Additionally, he wrote articles regarding legal and ethical issues for their Family Therapy Magazine and presented at workshops on a variety of legal issues.
Prior to his work with AAMFT, Richard was Legal Counsel to the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) for approximately twenty-two years. He was director of Government Relations for CAMFT, and as such was the architect of CAMFT’s widely regarded and successful legislative agenda. He represented CAMFT before the regulatory board (the Board of Behavioral Sciences) and was a tireless advocate for due process and fairness for licensees and applicants. He was a regular presenter at workshops and was consistently evaluated as CAMFT’s most highly rated presenter. He also sat with the CAMFT Ethics Committee and acted as their advisor on matters pertaining to the enforcement of ethical standards.
Richard is an acknowledged expert on matters pertaining to the interrelationship between law and the practice of marriage and family therapy and psychotherapy. For many years, he taught Law and Ethics courses for a number of colleges and universities in their marriage and family therapy degree programs. While at CAMFT, he provided telephone consultation services with thousands of therapists in California and elsewhere for over twenty years. He is highly regarded for his judgment, his expertise, his direct style, and his clarity.
Richard has been the driving force for many of the changes and additions to the laws of the State of California that affect MFTs. In 1980, he was primarily responsible for achieving passage of the "Freedom of Choice Law" that required insurance companies to pay for psychotherapy services performed by MFTs. Passage of that law allowed MFTs to earn a living, allowed them to better compete in the marketplace, and strengthened the profession in California by leading to a great increase in the number of licensees and CAMFT membership. Currently, about half of the licensed marriage and family therapists in the country are licensed in California.
While at CAMFT, Richard was primarily responsible for, among other things, the successful effort to criminalize sex between a patient and a therapist. He was successful in extending the laws of psychotherapist-patient privilege to MFTs, thereby giving patients the same level of privacy protection as when seeing a psychiatrist or psychologist. He fought tirelessly and successfully for the right of MFTs to refer to themselves as "psychotherapists," to perform psychological testing services, to be appropriately reimbursed by California’s Victims of Crime Program, and to be employed in county mental health agencies throughout California.
Richard was admitted to the Bar in New York (1969) and in California (1973). While practicing in New York, he served as a public defender, and later, as an Assistant District Attorney. Shortly after moving to California, he worked for the San Diego County Human Relations Commission as their Law and Justice Officer. While there, he worked successfully to achieve greater racial diversity in the criminal jury selection system and to expose and stop police abuse. For such work with that agency, he was the recipient of the Civil Libertarian of the Year Award by the San Diego Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
