Opinion ID: 1931382
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Exclusion of the General Public Under Section 3-810 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article

Text: In 2001, the General Assembly enacted Maryland Code (1973, 2002 Repl. Vol.), Section 3-810 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, which provides in pertinent part: (b) Confidentiality; exclusion of general public. (1) In any proceeding in which a child is alleged to be in need of assistance, the court may exclude the general public from a hearing and admit only those persons having a direct interest in the proceeding and their representatives. (2) The court shall exclude the general public from a hearing where the proceedings involve discussion of confidential information from the child abuse and neglect report and record, or any information obtained from the child welfare agency concerning a child or family who is receiving Title IV-B child welfare services or Title IV-E foster care or adoption assistance. Md.Code (1973, 2002 Repl.Vol.), § 3-810(b) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article. According to the legislative history of the section, the General Assembly enacted subsection (b)(2) to comply with the provisions of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), P.L. 93-247, 88 Stat. 4, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 5106a (2000). 2001 Md. Laws, Chap. 415. CAPTA requires states that receive federal grants to support their child welfare programs to enact methods to preserve the confidentiality of all records in order to protect the rights of the child and of the child's parents or guardians, including requirements ensuring that reports and records made and maintained pursuant to the purposes of this subchapter ... shall only be made available to ... any Federal, State, or local government entity, or any agent of such entity, that has a need for such information in order to carry out its responsibilities under law to protect children from abuse or neglect. 42 U.S.C. § 5106a (b)(2)(A)(viii), (ix). Ms. B. urges this Court to conclude that Ms. Traum, Ms. Duncan, and Mr. Mathews were members of the general public, and as such, should have been excluded from the proceedings in which confidential information from the child abuse report and record was discussed. We disagree. All three individuals, Ms. Joanna Duncan, Ms. Josiane Traum, and Mr. Charley Mathews, were involved in the case at various stages of the process. Ms. Duncan, a Community Services Aide with the Department, observed Ms. B.'s visitation with the children on several occasions and was privy to the information concerning the treatment of the children and their experiences while in the custody of Ms. B. Ms. Traum, a licensed social worker, was originally assigned to the children when they became involved with the Department, and therefore, also was aware of the confidential information concerning the child abuse. Mr. Mathews, a licensed social worker with the Sex Abuse Treatment division of the Department, supervised Ms. Atikkan, the children's current social worker, drafted a memorandum to the juvenile court discussing the children, and also had knowledge of the information at issue prior to the hearing. As such, each was an employee who had information regarding the status of the children and conceivably, could have needed information gleaned during the hearing. The purpose of Section 3-810(b)(2) of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, and CAPTA, is to prevent disclosure of confidential information concerning allegations and evidence of abuse that would impair the treatment and rehabilitation of the children and parents or guardians involved. Although we agree with Ms. B. that mere employment with the Department would not be sufficient to justify an employees presence during a hearing from which the general public must be excluded, we find no error in permitting employees of the Department who already knew of information concerning the child abuse in issue to remain during the hearing.