Thursday, April 28, 2011

Evaluator confidentiality restriction

I checked the confidentiality clause imposed by the court-appointed psychologist, Kenneth B. Perlmutter, doing an evaluation:
5. CONFIDENTIALITY. You understand that essentially there is no confidentiality in this matter other than the inappropriate disclosure of information to other parties not involved in this matter. I will be free to discuss what we discuss with any person involved in this matter. I will issue a final report which will only be released to your attorney or the Court (if so requested).
He says that there is no confidentiality because his report goes on the court record.

He said that he believes very strongly that the parents should not get copies of his report. He only gives copies to the lawyers. When he can get away with it, he just sends a copy to the court, and not to the lawyers. In my case, he had to send a copy to me, because I am not represented by a lawyer.

I do believe that no honest psychologist would try to keep the parent from reading the report, and no honest lawyer would either. Psychologists are trained to give feedback to their patients, not to badmouth them behind their backs. The evaluators should not be saying anything to the court unless they are willing to say it to the faces of the parents.
You understand that once the evaluation is released we will have no substantive contact (unless specifically agreed to by the attorneys) and that all contact at that time shall be through your attorney.
Again, no psychologist with any integrity would impose a condition like this. Perlmutter wrote recommendations that do not make any sense, but we have had to live under them. There can be no excuse for him to refuse to explain himself, except that he wants to avoid responsibility for the mess that he has made.

No comments: