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COUNSELLING RECORDS
from Counselling Policy
by JESS Dubai
11.4.3 “Violence against Children: Deliberate use of force against any child by any individual or group that would lead to actual harm to the health, growth or survival of the child.”
Article 1, Federal Law 3 of 2016
11.5 Child protection is central to the JESS model. The requirements of the Federal Law are applied within the school reporting procedures and the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy. The counsellors will complete a confidential child protection form to disclose any possible harm directly to the DSP for child protection within their school. Counsellors will not share the information beyond the stipulations of the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy. In accordance with the Federal Law, where other considerations exist, the welfare of the child supersedes any other concern including the maintenance of the counselling relationship.
11.6 Federal Law 3 of 2016 defines ‘best interests of the child’ as “placing the interests of the child above everything else and having priority and preference in all circumstances, regardless of the interests of other parties”.
11.7 It is a requirement for the counsellor to remain up to date with reporting procedures and child protection legislation. The counsellor must follow internal protocol when reporting and ensure information is passed on quickly within the correct reporting methods. The importance of child protection is highlighted in the KHDA inspection framework, section 5, which includes the specification to promote healthy lifestyles. For further information, please see the JESS Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.
12.1 All referrals will be logged onto a database and monitored to track progression. This database is only accessible to the counsellors. However, the head of child protection will receive information pertaining to who is receiving counselling.
12.2 The counsellors keep separate personal notes for the purpose of monitoring their work, providing reminders and for discussion in supervision meetings. Notes may include a brief outline of issues discussed, psychometric information if used, case formulations, goal setting and notes from parent or teacher meetings, as applicable. In accordance with good practice, this information is treated as confidential (see section 7.25, Counselling for schools: a blueprint for the future, 2016, UK Department for Education).
12.3 Counselling notes do not form part of the student’s school record. Counselling information is kept physically separate from individual records within school and are not accessible to non-counselling staff. These records are stored in a locked filing cabinet, which is best practice in school counselling and satisfies data protection
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requirements (see Counselling in Schools9, or Legal Issues Across Counselling & Psychotherapy Settings10).
12.4 Students may request access to their personal counselling notes. However, parents would not be given this access unless the child provided consent to their information being shared. An exception would be in the instance of a court order. In most jurisdictions, a judge would need to be satisfied that the documents were relevant and significant enough to warrant the breach. For example, courts in England and Wales would follow the Civil Procedures Rules which govern such matters.
9 Counselling in Schools, Robert Bor, Jo Ebner-Landy, Sheila Gill, Chris Brace, 2002, Sage Publications 10 Legal Issues Across Counselling & Psychotherapy Settings, a Guide for Practice, 2Barbara Mitchels, Tim Bond. 2001, Sage Publishing. 14 | P a g e
