Privacy Practices
Youth In Need’s confidentiality policy regarding data collected for the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), used by the Street Outreach Program, Emergency Shelter and Transitional Living Program, can be found here.
Youth In Need’s full Notice of Privacy Practices can be found below. This notice describes how health information about clients may be used and disclosed and how clients can access this information.
Notice of Privacy Practices
It is Youth In Need’s policy to protect, to the maximum extent possible, the privacy of every child, youth and family that we serve. There are instances when Youth In Need may release information concerning client care, including copies of client records, to certain individuals who are involved in client care, payment for care, and other activities related to that care. This includes the ability of funding sources, licensing and accrediting bodies to review individual client records for purposes of quality improvement and monitoring. Such disclosures, as well as other permitted disclosures, are more fully described in the Notice. It is Youth In need’s current policy to retain client files for 30 years after the end of services. For all youth in foster care, files are returned to Children’s Division at case closing, where they are permanently retained.
Youth In Need is a “covered entity” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and has policies and procedures to ensure our operations are HIPAA compliant. These procedures address clients’ rights in accessing their records. Clients must be the age of majority in Missouri (age 18) to request and receive information from their records. We request that for youth currently age 12 and older (at the time of the request) that their signature be obtained prior to releasing information. For youth that received services when they were younger than 18 (and they are now older than 18), authorization must be received from that former youth client. For clients receiving counseling services, both progress notes and psychotherapy notes may be maintained. Under federal law, clients may not inspect or receive a copy of psychotherapy notes and information that is compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or use in, criminal or administrative action or proceeding. Additional information can be found in the Notice and the Privacy Officer can provide assistance with questions relating to access of client records.
Confidentiality
As further described in the Notice, Youth In Need is required by law to disclose or report certain information that we may have received in the course of providing services. Such disclosures include, but are not limited to:
- Disclosures mandated by federal, state, or local law (i.e., suspicion or knowledge of child abuse/neglect, proceedings to terminate parental rights, etc).
- Disclosures specifically ordered by a court of law.
- Disclosures to prevent a serious threat to health or safety, for example, when there is imminent risk or serious threat of physical harm to self or others (including suicidal or homicidal thoughts).
In addition:
- For counseling services provided in a group session, Youth In Need will inform participants of the need to respect the privacy rights of all other participants and will stress that there should be no disclosure to others of information learned or acquired during the course of a group session. Youth In Need cannot control the conduct or actions of other group members; and hence makes no representation or agreement concerning their conduct.
- For confidentiality as it relates to Quality Improvement activities, Youth In Need uses various tools including client databases (primarily Efforts to Outcomes, Child Plus, HMIS, Caseworthy and Serve Point), outcome questionnaires, surveys and file reviews. Results and reports from these activities are used to continuously monitor progress, to assess areas of risk and to ensure clients are receiving the greatest possible benefit from services. All data collected is maintained in a secure, confidential manner. Summarized information and statistical data are used for reports to Youth In Need stakeholders, for grant writing and for training purposes.
- In addition, because Youth In Need’s services for older youth are funded primarily through the Community and Children’s Resource Board of St. Charles County, the St. Louis County Children’s Services Fund and St. Louis City Mental Health Board, client demographic data may be released to and used by these funders and/or their subcontractors for the purposes of measuring client satisfaction with services. In such cases no client records or case documentation will be released without written consent.
Read Youth In Need’s Notice of Privacy Practices.
Website and Email Privacy Practices
Our Commitment to Your Privacy
Privacy is of the utmost importance to Youth In Need. Youth In Need safeguards information that is shared and obtained on our website. Appropriate procedures and secure servers are used. This policy outlines a description of these procedures. If a website visitor shares personal information, we will not sell, share or exchange the information to third parties.
The Information We Collect
Youth In Need collects and interacts with information provided for various purposes such as e-mail, employment inquiries, telephone requests and donation submissions. The types of personal information collected at these pages may include:
- First and Last Name
- Address/City/State/ZIP
- E-mail address
- Phone Number (Home, Work and Cell)
- Credit/Debit Card Information (collected by a secure third-party billing service)
How We Will Use Your Information
Emails: We will respond to e-mail inquiries sent to the e-mails listed on our website and will not share
e-mail address information with outside parties.
Employment Inquiries: Employment inquiries are submitted through a general e-mail address. Our Human Resources staff monitors the employment e-mail address and will collect employment candidate information, including personally identifiable information, via submitted résumés and related e-mail correspondence.
Forms: In some instances, Youth In Need may provide online forms through a third-party service called Wufoo. The purpose of these forms varies, but may include mailing list enrollment or collection of agency success stories. Form submissions are voluntary as the provided information is at the user’s discretion. (Please see Google’s Privacy and Terms for more information.) Youth In Need also may seek your opinion through Survey Monkey. (Please see Survey Monkey’s Privacy Statement for more information.) In addition, we also communicate via e-mail through MailChimp. (Please see MailChimp’s Privacy Statement for more information.)
Donations: When a visitor makes an online donation through Youth In Need’s website, Network for Good processes the transaction and is responsible for providing online security measures to the donor. When donors enter sensitive information, such as credit or debit card numbers, that information is encrypted and is protected with encryption software. Network for Good uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to keep your personal information as secure as possible. (Please see Blackbaud’s Privacy Policy for more information.)
Additionally, Youth In Need also will list your name in various publications, including agency newsletters and an Annual Roll of Giving list included in Youth In Need’s Annual Report unless you indicate a desire to remain anonymous. Likewise, when you make a donation in honor or memory of another person, we will list that person’s name, in addition to your name as the donor, in our newsletter and annual report, unless you indicate a desire to remain anonymous.
Privacy of Children
Youth In Need’s website is designed for a general audience. It is not Youth In Need’s policy to intentionally collect information on minors on our website. Minors are asked not to submit any personal information on the website but rather call one of several help lines for assistance. Personally identifiable information provided over the phone also is safeguarded and not shared with third parties.
Cookies
Youth In Need’s website and e-mail communications may use “cookies” to enhance the user’s experience. A cookie is a small text file that a website’s server places on a user’s computer, mobile phone or other device. Users may choose to set their web browser to refuse cookies, or to alert them when cookies are being sent. If they do so, note that some parts of the website may not function properly.
Cookies can transmit information back to the website’s server about the browsing activities of the user on the site. This includes information such as pages and content viewed, the time and duration of visits and whether user clicked on an advertisement.
Cookies also can be used to recognize users and maintain data related to a particular individual, including passwords. In some contexts, such as where a number of separate websites participate in a network, cookies can be used to track a computer user across different sites.
Links
Youth In Need’s website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.
Our Commitment to Data Security
It’s important to note that any Internet communications are not completely secure and are subject to errors or malfunctions in transmissions or storage. Therefore, Youth In Need cannot guarantee complete security but does ensure that it takes appropriate actions to prevent such occurrences and safeguards all information submitted on its website.
How to Contact Us
If you wish to discontinue receipt of postal mail or e-mail, if you have questions or concerns regarding the website and e-mail privacy practices as outlined here or to correct factual errors in your personally identifiable information, please contact Youth In Need at development@youthinneed.org or 636-757-9347. To protect your privacy and security, we also will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.
Use of Youth In Need’s website signifies acceptance of these privacy practices. Youth In Need reserves the right to modify its website and privacy practices at any time without notice.