Relevant+Legal+Considerations

== Case Study | Ethical Codes and Considerations | Laws and Legal Considerations | Literature Review ==

Professional Interview | Ethical Decision Making Model
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Although practically all of the dilemmas faced in this particular case are ethical in nature, there are a couple of laws that could relate to the situation. First, Georgia code 15-11-2 defines a child as being an individual under the age of 17. Therefore, legally, Carmen is an adult and can make decisions on her own. So while what Allison is suggesting seems to be going in the wrong direction culturally and ethically, she is not legally in the wrong. One law that could cause Allison some legal trouble, however, is Georgia code 51-11-7. This law has to do with negligence of a consumer when harm is done. Although we do not know for sure if any emotional or psychological harm has in fact been done to Carmen, Allison’s lack of multicultural competence if she continues to practice could have detrimental consequences.

135-7-.01 Responsibility to Clients per the Composite Board of LPC, SW, and MFT is relevant to this case as well. It states: a) exploiting relationships with clients for personal or financial advantages; (b) using any confidence of a client to the client's disadvantage; (c) participating in dual relationships with clients that create a conflict of interest which could impair the licensee's professional judgement, harm the client, or compromise the therapy; (e) knowingly withholding information about accepted and prevailing treatment alternatives that differ from those provided by the licensee; (f) failing to inform the client of any contractual obligations, limitations, or requirements resulting from an agreement between the licensee and a third party payer which could influence the course of the client's treatment; (g) when there are clear and established risks to the client, failing to provide the client with a description of any foreseeable negative consequences of the proposed treatment; (h) charging a fee for anything without having informed the client in advance of the fee; (i) taking any action for nonpayment of fees without first advising the client of the intended action and providing the client with an opportunity to settle the debt; (j) when termination or interruption of service to the client is anticipated, failing to notify the client promptly and failing to assist the client in seeking alternative services consistent with the client's needs and preferences; (k) failing to terminate a client relationship when it is reasonably clear that the treatment no longer serves the client's needs or interest; (l) delegating professional responsibilities to another person when the licensee delegating the responsibilities knows or has reason to know that such person is not qualified by training, by experience, or by licensure to perform them; and (m) failing to provide information regarding a client's evaluation or treatment, in a timely fashion and to the extent deemed prudent and clinically appropriate by the licensee, when that information has been requested and released by the client.
 * (1) A licensee's primary professional responsibility is to the client. The licensee shall make every reasonable effort to promote the welfare, autonomy and best interests of families and individuals, including respecting the rights of those persons seeking assistance, obtaining informed consent, and making reasonable efforts to ensure that the licensee's services are used appropriately.**
 * (2) Unprofessional conduct includes, but is not limited to, the following:**
 * (d) undertaking a course of treatment when the client, or the client's representative, does not understand and agree with the treatment goals;**

While they are not technically laws, another relevant source for the agency Allison works for to consider could be the National Standards on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS). The CLAS standards are primarily directed at health care organizations; however, individual providers are also encouraged to use the standards to make their practices more culturally and linguistically accessible. The principles and activities of culturally and linguistically appropriate services should be integrated throughout an organization and undertaken in partnership with the communities being served.

The 14 standards are organized by themes: Culturally Competent Care (Standards 1-3), Language Access Services (Standards 4-7), and Organizational Supports for Cultural Competence (Standards 8-14). Within this framework, there are three types of standards of varying stringency: mandates, guidelines, and recommendations as follows:

CLAS mandates are current Federal requirements for all recipients of Federal funds (Standards 4, 5, 6, and 7).

CLAS guidelines are activities recommended by OMH for adoption as mandates by Federal, State, and national accrediting agencies (Standards 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13).

CLAS recommendations are suggested by OMH for voluntary adoption by health care organizations (Standard 14).

Health care organizations should ensure that patients/consumers receive from all staff member's effective, understandable, and respectful care that is provided in a manner compatible with their cultural health beliefs and practices and preferred language. **
 * Standard 1

Standard 2 Health care organizations should implement strategies to recruit, retain, and promote at all levels of the organization a diverse staff and leadership that are representative of the demographic characteristics of the service area.

Health care organizations should ensure that staff at all levels and across all disciplines receive ongoing education and training in culturally and linguistically appropriate service delivery. **
 * Standard 3

Standard 4 Health care organizations must offer and provide language assistance services, including bilingual staff and interpreter services, at no cost to each patient/consumer with limited English proficiency at all points of contact, in a timely manner during all hours of operation.

Standard 5 Health care organizations must provide to patients/consumers in their preferred language both verbal offers and written notices informing them of their right to receive language assistance services.

Standard 6 Health care organizations must assure the competence of language assistance provided to limited English proficient patients/consumers by interpreters and bilingual staff. Family and friends should not be used to provide interpretation services (except on request by the patient/consumer).

Standard 7 Health care organizations must make available easily understood patient-related materials and post signage in the languages of the commonly encountered groups and/or groups represented in the service area.

Health care organizations should develop, implement, and promote a written strategic plan that outlines clear goals, policies, operational plans, and management accountability/oversight mechanisms to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services. **
 * Standard 8

Health care organizations should conduct initial and ongoing organizational self-assessments of CLAS-related activities and are encouraged to integrate cultural and linguistic competence-related measures into their internal audits, performance improvement programs, patient satisfaction assessments, and outcomes-based evaluations. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard 9

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard 10 Health care organizations should ensure that data on the individual patient's/consumer's race, ethnicity, and spoken and written language are collected in health records, integrated into the organization's management information systems, and periodically updated.

Health care organizations should maintain a current demographic, cultural, and epidemiological profile of the community as well as a needs assessment to accurately plan for and implement services that respond to the cultural and linguistic characteristics of the service area. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard 11

Health care organizations should develop participatory, collaborative partnerships with communities and utilize a variety of formal and informal mechanisms to facilitate community and patient/consumer involvement in designing and implementing CLAS-related activities. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard 12

Health care organizations should ensure that conflict and grievance resolution processes are culturally and linguistically sensitive and capable of identifying, preventing, and resolving cross-cultural conflicts or complaints by patients/consumers. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard 13

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Standard 14 Health care organizations are encouraged to regularly make available to the public information about their progress and successful innovations in implementing the CLAS standards and to provide public notice in their communities about the availability of this information.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It should also be understood that any of the ethical codes Allison has breached could be reported to the Professional Licensing Boards within the state and Allison could face license suspension or revocation.

References An overview of laws pertaining to the department of juvenile justice (2013). Retrieved from http://www.djj.state.ga.us/ResourceLibrary/resFactSheetsJuvLaws.shtml

Ethics (2009). Retrieved from http://lpcaga.org/index.php?customernumber=60573668318&pr=Ethics

Georgia Code: Torts (2006, April 25). Retrieved from http://law.onecle.com/georgia/51/51-11-7.html

National standards on culturally and linguistically appropriate services (2007, April 12). Retrieved from http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlID=15 Photograph retrieved from http://www.in.gov/core/law.html