Table of Contents

• Why Confidentiality?

• Who Can Use This Toolkit?

• Frequently Asked Questions

• Tip Sheets & Charts

• Templates

• Recorded Webinars

• Additional Resources

For any victim service agency or community organization working with survivors of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, maintaining confidentiality is paramount to preserving the safety, privacy, and trust of those seeking services. When survivors seek services, they take huge personal risks. If an abuser should discover that a victim is seeking services, the abuse could increase in frequency and severity. There can also be potential societal and personal repercussions from being identified as a victim, such as housing or job discrimination. Even without these concerns, the experiences of any survivor are theirs and they should be in complete control over their privacy and who knows their story. Minimizing the risks to victims is an integral part of providing services to survivors.

Because survivor privacy is so critical to safety, several federal laws include privacy and confidentiality provisions and most states prohibit the disclosure of victim information. Victim service providers in the United States who are receiving federal funds have some of the strongest confidentiality obligations that exist in the country. This toolkit is designed to provide details to providers about those obligations and how to navigate the complexities that arise when collaborating with other agencies and using technologies.

This toolkit was created to assist non-profit victim service organizations and programs, co-located partnerships, coordinated community response teams, and innovative partnerships of victim service providers working to address domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. This toolkit is meant to help providers and agencies understand and follow the confidentiality obligations mandated by the funding they receive through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), and related state and federal privacy laws.

This section provides an overview on questions that commonly come up concerning confidentiality releases, federal laws on confidentiality, the collection and maintenance of survivor data, when and how survivor information should be shared, and more.

• Survivor Confidentiality Releases

• Federal Law & Confidentiality for Survivors

• Why Privacy and Confidentiality Matters for Victims of Domestic & Sexual Violence

• Primer on Privilege and Confidentiality

• Record Retention and Deletion

• Confidentiality in VAWA, FVPSA, and VOCA

• HIPAA Privacy, HIPAA Security, & Technology

• Contact Tracing & VAWA Confidentiality: Tips for Handling Common Scenarios

• Online Coordinated Care Networks & Referral Systems

The following handouts were created to provide safety and confidentiality tips as well as information that highlight considerations about technology use by agencies and collaborations serving victims. These are meant to help your agency navigate complex and nuanced topics.

Confidentiality

• Survivor Confidentiality and Privacy: Releases and Waivers At-A-Glance

• Digital Written Consent to Share Information

• Victim Confidentiality Considerations For Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Programs When Responding to Rare or Emergency Situations

• Privacy in HIPAA, VAWA, FVPSA & VOCA: Different Laws, Different Purposes

• Summary Chart of U.S. State & Territorial Laws Related to Advocate Confidentiality & Privilege (best viewed in Google Chrome)

• How to Respond to a Subpoena

• VAWA Grant Conditions, Victim Privacy & Effective Oversight Procedures

• State Address Confidentiality Programs

Data Management, Data Security, Data Breaches

• Data Breaches & Victim Service Providers: Considerations for Developing Effective Policies

• How to Select a Database

• Databases in Legal Systems & Multidisciplinary Teams

HMIS & HUD Specific Resources

• Comparable Database 101: What Victim Service Providers Need to Know

• HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) - Grantee Monitoring for Victim Service Providers

These template forms, policies, and agreements have been created for non-profit victim service agencies, advocates, and partnerships to adapt and use when they provide services to survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. Programs can adapt these templates to meet the needs of their organization; however, please keep in mind that changes should be minimal and the purpose or intent of the template should not be altered. Click here to find the template that best suits your needs.  

• Fundamentals & Framework: Understanding Confidentiality & Our Obligations - This webinar outlines federal confidentiality obligations and how they connect to survivor-centered advocacy and practice, discusses key considerations related to information disclosure, and addresses the general intersection of confidentiality and technology.

• Survivor Data: Collection, Retention & Deletion Best Practices - This webinar offers a deep dive into best practices related to victim service programs' confidentiality obligations and their data collection, retention, and deletion processes.

• Data Breach Notifications & Survivor Confidentiality - Both OVW grantee requirements and state laws require programs to inform survivors of data breaches. However, data breach notifications can pose serious safety and privacy risks to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and must be thought through carefully. This webinar addresses issues victim service programs must consider as they draft and implement data breach notification policies.

• Official Demands for Information: Subpoenas, Warrants, Court Orders, Auditors & Monitors - Although the statutory obligations are clear, the real-life scenarios that emerge when someone demands information or when a release is needed can feel challenging and confusing. Here, we talk through common questions and scenarios to help attendees navigate the nuances of releases and releasing information, and answers frequently asked questions about managing requests from attorneys, law enforcement, social service agencies, court systems, and funders.

• Digital Written Consent - Federal confidentiality guidelines require that when survivors want a victim service program to share information about them, the program must first obtain informed, time-limited, written consent. Remote consent might be needed in a variety of situations. We will focus on what to consider when identifying alternative options through a survivor-centered process, and how to navigate privacy and safety concerns with technology options. En español.

  Read more about Digital Written Consent.

• Using Technology to Communicate with Survivors - Digital Services Toolkit

• Agency Use of Technology Toolkit