(a) (1) Records contained in a juvenile delinquency case file may be accessed by a law enforcement agency, probation department, court, the Department of Justice, or other state or local agency that has custody of the case file and juvenile record for the limited purpose of complying with data collection or data reporting requirements that are imposed under the terms of a grant or by another state or federal law. However, personally identifying information contained in a juvenile delinquency case file accessed under this subdivision shall not be released, disseminated, or published by or through an agency, department, court, or individual that has accessed or obtained information from the juvenile delinquency case file.
(2) Upon request of the chief probation officer, the juvenile court may authorize a probation department to access and provide data contained in juvenile delinquency case files and related juvenile records in the possession of the probation department for the purpose of data sharing or conducting or facilitating research on juvenile justice populations, practices, policies, or trends, if both of the following requirements are met:
(A) The court is satisfied that the research, evaluation, or study includes a sound methodology for the appropriate protection of the confidentiality of an individual whose juvenile delinquency case file is accessed pursuant to this subdivision.
(B) Personally identifying information relating to the individual whose juvenile delinquency case file is accessed pursuant to this subdivision is not further released, disseminated, or published by the probation department or by or through a program evaluator, researcher, or research organization that is retained by the department for research or evaluation purposes.
(3) For the purposes of this subdivision, “personally identifying information” has the same meaning as specified in subdivision (b) of Section 1798.79.8 of the Civil Code.
(b) (1) If information from a juvenile delinquency case record is being released for the purposes of human subject research, as defined in Part 46 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the probation department shall, after receiving authorization from the court but prior to the release of any information, enter into a formal agreement with the entity or entities conducting the research or evaluation that specifies what may and may not be done with the information disclosed.
(2) All human subject research governed by Part 46 of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations shall be conducted in compliance with the protections set forth therein.
(c) The probation department shall not disclose any dependency information contained in a juvenile delinquency case record that pertains to a child who is currently receiving, or has previously received, public social services administered by the State Department of Social Services unless it has complied with the requirements for disclosure of that information set forth in Section 10850.
(Added by Stats. 2017, Ch. 462, Sec. 1. (SB 462) Effective January 1, 2018.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018