You are a counselor working at a publicly funded alcohol anddrug treatment program. Your client, Doug, attends one of yourcounseling groups. Although he has a previous conviction and is onprobation for possession of an illegal substance, he enteredtreatment as a voluntary client. Doug's probation officer recentlylearned from another probationer that Doug is in treatment, and thedoug probation offieder has sent you a letter requesting that youprovide a progress report and an assessment of Doug's likelihood ofrelapse. The probation officer will use this information, iffavorable, to petition the court for Doug's early release fromprobation or can be used against doug at his early release petionis Doug probaiton officer allowed to ask for dougs records withoutdoug perission? Why or why not? is this ethical and can the you thecouselor give the records up to the probation officer?
Discuss your options for responding to the probation officer'srequest and describe what you would do. Cite relevant legal issues,including federal confidentiality and privacy regulations in yourdiscussion. Identify the specific circumstances under which youwould provide the information requested by the probation officer.How would you handle this differently if Doug were involuntarilyattending the group?
