Anyone have any suggestions here? I requested as I stated before to get the notes from the social worker when they met with my child for a physician’s visit so the doctor could do a good evaluation. All that was in the packet was the “release form” we filled out. NO NOTES were in the packet. So one of 2 things happened. They are not giving access to us or notes were never taken. How can you take a look at the notes if the school is unwilling to help? I want to see what has been documented by the social worker. Do we as parents have rights to those records on our children?
Any replies on how to get this information would be greatly appreciated.
and another option
I forgot to let you know that you could possibly try to get the medical records from the visit. Chances are the physician who saw your child would have made notes as to what the concerns of the social worker were doing the visit. And is this a school social worker who went with your child or a case manager? Is there another agency involved?
I am confused as to what you mean by “notes”. Do you mean the actual formal evaluation record that would be presented as part of a school evaluation or the handwritten notes taken during an interview? The social worker’s professional evaluation should be included in any formal evaluation that you would be done on your child. Any notes taken during an interview would not be part of the record. As a former social worker I have never seen the notes of a social worker taken during an interview viewed as part of the school ‘s record. That is unless you have a court order and by then the notes have probably been discarded. Another possiblility is that the release of information that you sent did not cover the specific issue that you thought you were requesting. The law is very specific about releasing this type of information. The social workers personal notes taken during in an interview would not be in your child’s record where clerical personnel could copy from just a request. This would be unethical for a social worker to leave in a file where anyone could access the information. Your best alternative would be to call the social worker and ask for the notes. Chances are you are going to get told “no” we do not release interview records. However, if she is going to make a formal statement in your child’s record the record will be available. Forget about asking the school about this matter. They probably don’t have a clue as to what you are even talking about.