1.This Act may be cited as
the Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act Amendments of 2008
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)Federal
authorities charged with examining the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech in
April 2007 found that confusion and overly-restrictive interpretations of
Federal privacy laws, State medical confidentiality laws, and regulations
unnecessarily impede the effective transfer of information that could prove
useful in averting tragedies. Some school administrators are unaware of
exceptions to Federal privacy laws that could allow relevant information about
a student’s mental health to be appropriately shared.
(2)The purpose of
this Act is to eliminate ambiguity in Federal education privacy law to ensure
that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is not
interpreted as prohibiting information sharing between on-campus and off-campus
health care providers when both are involved in treating a student. Such
consults
are generally permitted by State medical
confidentiality law, and FERPA should not be interpreted as posing an
additional obstacle. The Virginia Tech Review Panel recommended that changes to
FERPA should explicitly explain how it applies to medical records held
for treatment purposes
. The panel reported that misinterpretation of
how student treatment records are handled under FERPA as the main source of
confusion. FERPA protects the privacy of both student education records and
student treatment records from being disclosed generally.
(3)The Virginia Tech
Review Panel recommended that Federal privacy laws should be amended to include
safe harbor
provisions that would insulate a person or
organization from the loss of Federal education funding for making a disclosure
with a good faith belief that the disclosure was necessary to protect the
health or safety of a student or member of the public at large. The Commission
further recommended that the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
(FERPA) be amended to clarify the ability of educational institutions to
disclose information in emergency situations and to facilitate treatment of
students at off-campus facilities.
(4)Mental disorders
frequently begin during youth. Research supported by the National Institute of
Mental Health found that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by
age 14; three quarters have begun by age 24.
(5)In 2004, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 4,316 suicides among young
adults aged 15–24, making it the third leading cause of death in this age
group. There were an additional 5,074 suicides among those aged 25–34, making
it the second leading cause of death in this age group.
(6)Depression,
mental illness, and suicide are problems on college campuses. In 2006, 44
percent of college students reported feeling so depressed it was difficult to
function and 9 percent seriously considered suicide, according to a 2006
national survey conducted by the American College Health Association.
(7)While most people
in the United States with a mental disorder eventually seek treatment, a
National Institute of Mental Health study found pervasive and lengthy delays in
getting treatment, with the median delay across disorders being nearly a
decade. Over a 12-month period, 60 percent of those with a mental disorder got
no treatment at all.
(8)A 2006 survey
sponsored by the American College Counseling Association found that 9 percent
of enrolled students sought counseling last year and 92 percent of counseling
center directors reported an increase in the number of students with severe
psychological disorders.
(9)Recent events,
including the campus shootings at the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois
universities, have further highlighted the deadly problems of mental illness
and violence in American schools. The Northern Illinois shooting resulted in 6
deaths while the Virginia Tech killings left 32 people dead, making it the most
lethal school shooting in United States history.
3.The Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. 1232g) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
(k)Consultation
with off campus medical professionalsNothing in this section
shall prohibit a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other recognized
healthcare professional or paraprofessional acting in the individual's
professional or paraprofessional capacity, or assisting in that capacity, from
consulting with or disclosing records described in subsection (a)(4)(B)(iv)
with respect to a student, to a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other
recognized healthcare professional or paraprofessional acting in the
individual's professional or paraprofessional capacity, or assisting in that
capacity, outside the educational agency or institution in connection with the
provision of treatment to the
student.
.
4.The Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. 1232g) is amended in
subsection (f) by adding at the end the following: The release by an
educational agency or institution of education records or personally
identifiable information contained in such records in the good faith belief
that such release is necessary to protect against a potential threat to the
health or safety of the student or other persons, shall not be deemed a failure
to comply with this section regardless of whether it is subsequently determined
that the specified conditions for such release did not exist.
.
5.Emergency
exception amendmentThe Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. 1232g) is amended in
subsection (b)(1)(I) by striking is necessary
and all that
follows and inserting is necessary, according to the good faith belief
of the educational agency or institution or persons to whom such disclosure is
made, to protect against a potential threat to the health or safety of the
student or other persons; and
.