Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

Also, are campus advocates (where states offer confidentiality for advocates) or licensed social workers/counselors in campus counseling centers or women's centers required by any federal laws to share information for Clery reporting purposes? 

Adriane,

 

Counselors and social workers working in a counseling center in the course and scope of their license would be exempt from Clery Act crime reporting, under the 1998 amendments. 

 

Dan is right that privileged advocates would be similarly exempt, but almost all states that do so grant advocates confidentiality, rather than privilege.  Thus, advocates in most states will be required to report non-personally identifiable, statistical information.  This will be true regardless of where the advocacy program is housed (women's center, counseling center, etc.).  Any advocate who is also a professional counselor would be exempt only if advocacy activities fall within the scope of their licensure (advocacy does in a few states, not in most).

 

But, frankly, all advocates and counselors should be willing to do this, except in the rare circumstance where anonymous release would still prove to be personally identifiable.  I think the 1998 amendments that reclassified counselors and clergy were a detriment to overall reporting clarity about sexual assault, and fed the misinformation about Clery that personally identifiable information was necessary to verify a statistical report of a crime.

 

Finally, counselors or social workers working in a women's center will likely be working outside the scope of their licenses, and therefore not exempt (but this will depend both on the job description and the specific licensing authority). 

 

 

Regards,
Brett A. Sokolow
Brett A. Sokolow, J.D.
Attorney-At-Law


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Special Counsel for Student Conduct Issues, Warren Wilson College
Special Advisor to the University of Texas, San Antonio
Special Counsel, Concordia University (TX)
Special Counsel, Northern Virginia Community College
Special Counsel, Southwestern Michigan College
Special Counsel, the Community College of Allegheny County
Special Advisor, Vassar College
Special Advisor, Henry Ford Community College

 

In a message dated 12/10/2010 12:51:57 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, writes:

Also, are campus advocates (where states offer confidentiality for advocates) or licensed social workers/counselors in campus counseling centers or women's centers required by any federal laws to share information for Clery reporting purposes?