At the Office of Career and Professional Development, we strive to protect the confidential information of our clients. We do not share confidential information without client consent or without sound legal or ethical justification. We also make every effort to ensure that confidentiality of clients are maintained by the OCPD team, including administrative staff, OCPD trainees, and student workers.
During the counseling session, we inform clients of the limitations of confidentiality and we try to identify foreseeable situations in which confidential information must be disclosed.
The general requirement that we keep information confidential does not apply when disclosure is required to protect clients or identified others from serious and foreseeable harm or when legal requirements demand that confidential information must be revealed.
Examples of when we may disclose confidential information may include, but are not limited to:
- Mandated reporting in cases of suspected or actual child or elder abuse,
- When a client poses a threat to themselves or others,
- When information is shared regarding sexual harassment or sexual violence, pursuant to the University of California Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
- When information is shared regarding discrimination, pursuant to the UCSF Nondiscrimination Policy
- When information is shared regarding bullying/abusive conduct, pursuant to the UCSF Violence and Bullying Policy
To the extent possible, we take reasonable steps to inform clients of the above limitations before confidential information is disclosed. When we are required to disclose confidential information, only essential information is revealed and only on a need to know basis.
The OCPD Confidentiality Policy was drafted based on the guidelines and standards set forth by the National Career Development Association (NCDA) Code of Ethics.