Introduction

This web site provides an on-line version of the book, "Everybody's Talking," a resource for parents and professionals that addresses common questions about information sharing among agencies serving children with emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems. More information about "Everybody's Talking" can be found under Credits and Contact Information.

"Everybody's Talking" is for parents, guardians, and other adults interested in children involved with juvenile courts. Throughout this site, the term "parent" is used to refer to an adult who is responsible for the care of a child. This may be the biological or adoptive parent or a legal guardian. In addition, the words "child," "youth," and "juvenile" are used interchangeably; all refer to young people who are under eighteen years of age.

The site is also a resource for parents of children with developmental, emotional, or behavioral disabilities, with school difficulties, or with other treatment needs for which they have received services from community agencies.

The primary purpose of this resource is to explain how information is kept and shared by community agencies and organizations that provide services to children and families. A second purpose is to provide parents with the information they need to play an active role in decisions about how their children will be treated, both in court and in the community.

When parents work with agency professionals who are helping their children, they may feel intimidated or overwhelmed by procedures that are new to them. While parents may reasonably accept the judgments of these professionals in many circumstances, they are encouraged to be active participants in decisions that affect how their children will be treated. Parents need to understand how they can contribute to agency efforts most effectively. One way is to understand an agencyÕs need for information and how it will be used.

Children become involved with the juvenile court for many reasons. Sometimes they come to the court because they have been accused of breaking the law, because they need services, or because they have had a lot of unexcused absences from school. Other times, they become involved with the court due to custody disagreements between their parents, through mental health commitment procedures, or as a result of abuse or neglect. Whatever the reason, the court will rely on information obtained from various sources to assist in making decisions about how to discipline the child or how to act in the childÕs best interest. In addition to information received from the child and parents, the court may get information from community agencies that have worked with the child and family or that have been requested by the court to provide professional assessments and recommendations. Because of the influence agency reports have on court decisions, it is important for parents to know what information is in agency records and to work with the agency to be sure the information is correct.

This booklet provides answers to questions that parents often ask about agency records and how agencies share information with each other. It also provides information on how to see and get copies of records that agencies keep about children and their families, how to work with professionals to ensure the accuracy of the information kept in those records, and how to request that errors be corrected.

This booklet is divided into two sections. Part I contains general information about the records kept by agencies that provide services to children and families, how they share information with each other, and a parentÕs role in the information sharing process.

Part II addresses questions and concerns that parents have about records kept by specific agencies such as the juvenile court, law enforcement, the Department of Juvenile Justice, the Department of Social Services, schools, medical and mental health providers, substance abuse treatment providers, and Comprehensive Services Act offices.