Professional Ethics, Law, and Policy
Domain 6 - Professional Ethics, Law, and Policy
This domain tests applied legal literacy: the statutes governing records, consent, discipline, and the social worker's mandatory duties.
Core rules
- NASW Code of Ethics: service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, competence. Confidentiality is the default, limited by informed consent, safety, and law.
- FERPA: parents may inspect and amend education records; directory information may be disclosed unless opted out; disclosure otherwise requires consent except for specified exceptions (school officials with legitimate educational interest, health or safety emergencies, judicial order).
- Illinois Student Records Act and Illinois mental health confidentiality law narrow what belongs in the cumulative folder; psychotherapy notes are treated differently from education records.
- Mandated reporting: under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, suspicion - not proof - triggers a call to the DCFS hotline; reporter identity is protected; share only on a need-to-know basis.
- IDEA: FAPE, least restrictive environment, procedural safeguards, prior written notice, related services, and discipline protections. A change of placement beyond 10 cumulative school days requires a manifestation determination; 45-day interim alternative placements apply to weapons, drugs, and serious bodily injury.
- Section 504/ADA, Title IX, McKinney-Vento, ESSA: nondiscrimination, response to sex-based harassment, homeless student rights, and schoolwide supports.
- Duty to warn/protect (Tarasoff) and consent for minors: parental consent generally governs, with narrow exceptions for mature minors and emergencies.
Worked example
A parent demands the counselor's session notes. The worker distinguishes the cumulative record from psychotherapy notes, verifies FERPA rights, releases only records the parent is entitled to, and documents the decision after consulting a supervisor.
Traps
Treating FERPA as covering all clinical notes; investigating a report instead of reporting it; letting the 10-day discipline clock run unmonitored.