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NEW YORK

Support group records protected

Recently the Nassau County Health Department contacted a local support group affiliated with New York State Loving Education at Home (LEAH), demanding that the leader (a Home School Legal Defense Association member) provide the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all of the homeschool families in the group within one hour. The department representative stated that a homeschooled child in the area had been diagnosed with whooping cough and the department was required to ensure that all homeschooled children in the area were immunized

The leader quickly contacted LEAH's regional representative, who in turn called HSLDA Attorney Thomas Schmidt. After first verifying the specifics of the local health officials' demands, Schmidt, in consultation with several other HSLDA attorneys, determined that no records could be turned over to the department of health without a court order.

When Schmidt contacted the Nassau Health Department's director of communicable diseases, he learned that the department mistakenly believed that it was obligated to ensure all children were immunized. While the director refused to provide the name of the family whose child was diagnosed with whooping cough, citing "privacy concerns," she continued to demand the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of all of the homeschool families in the support group.

Schmidt explained the law to the director and pointed out the department's inconsistent position of wanting to protect the privacy of the sick child but demanding that the support group turn over its private records. Though he firmly stated that the support group would not turn over these records, Schmidt proposed that the department write a letter regarding its health concerns to all the homeschooling families in the support group. Once copies of the letter were delivered to the support group leader, they would be sent to each family in the group. This would protect the families' privacy while allowing the department's legitimate concerns of health within the county to be addressed. Recognizing that the department would not be able to obtain the private records of the group, the director agreed to Schmidt's compromise.

— by Thomas J. Schmidt