Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 44, November 2, 2024
(a)
Legal
provisions. The legal provisions relating to policy for safeguarding
information are as follows:
(1) The
provisions of this chapter safeguard information relating to individual
applicants and recipients of public assistance by restricting the use or
disclosure of the information as required by sections 404, 425 and 505 of the
Public Welfare Code (62 P. S. §§
404,
425 and
505).
(2) The term "PA" as used throughout this
section includes the cash assistance program (TANF, GA, SBP), the ETP, the
child welfare program, the child support enforcement program, the MA Program,
the SSI Program and the Social Services Program.
(b)
General objective. The
general objective of this chapter is as follows:
(1) The objective of this chapter is to
permit the maximum use of information collected from and about a client to
determine eligibility for assistance, and still preserve, insofar as possible,
that relationship of confidence between the Department and its clients, and the
Department and the public at large, which is vital to efficient administration.
To carry out this objective, the Department has established regulations
defining the use and disclosure of information on applicants and
recipients.
(2) The term
"Department" as used in this section refers to offices and employees of the
Department of Human Services that are concerned with the administration of the
public assistance program.
(c)
General policy in the collection
and use of information. General policy in the collection and use of
information is as follows:
(1) The Department
will collect and use only that information that relates to its responsibilities
in administering the public assistance program. The client shall give
information for purposes directly related to eligibility for assistance or
other services the Department gives, and use of the information by the
Department is confined to those purposes. The Department often requires
information from and regarding clients which is of a highly personal nature.
The information is limited in its scope and its use to that which is essential
to the proper discharge of the responsibilities of the Department. As a measure
to provide protection of the individuals it serves, the Department will take
precaution against their being exploited for commercial or political
reasons.
(2) The Department will
give pertinent statistical or social data in general studies, reports, surveys,
information on expenditures, number and category of recipients, and other
information, so long as none of it identifies any particular
individual.
(3) The Department will
provide information to law enforcement officials as provided in §
105.4 (relating to procedures) and
information regarding an individual under the safeguards provided in this
chapter, when this information relates to a service the individual is asking
for himself, or one asked for on his behalf by someone he has requested to act
for him, and when the service is related to the purpose and function of the
public assistance program.
(d)
Information to be
safeguarded. The Department will safeguard the following information:
(1) The names of applicants and
recipients.
(2) The address of any
applicant or recipient and the amount of assistance any recipient is receiving
except as provided in § 105.4.
(3) Information in applications, reports of
investigations, financial and medical records, correspondence and other
recorded or unrecorded information, related to the condition or circumstances
of applicants and recipients. This applies to information in the offices of the
Department, the Department of the Auditor General, the Treasury Department and
other agencies concerned with the administration of public assistance.
Information that does not identify a particular individual is not included in
the class of material to be safeguarded.
(e)
Information on MA. The
policy for information on MA is as follows:
(1) Each recipient or applicant for MA has
the right to have the information given to the Department about his
circumstances kept confidential. The information may be used only for purposes
related to the administration of assistance.
(2) In the administration of the MA Program,
the agency is required to provide to the vendor of medical care and services
certain information regarding an applicant or recipient. In these
relationships, it is the responsibility of the agency to be reasonably assured
that these persons will safeguard the information and use it only for the
purpose for which it was made available.
(3) Public access to information on the
application of any person for or receipt of MA is not provided. Section
105.4(a)(1) does not apply to MA records.
(f)
Use of information outside the
Department. An individual may not have direct access to the records of
the Department unless that individual has an official connection with any part
of the Department, or is an employee of the Auditor General's Department, the
Treasury Department or another Commonwealth or Federal agency officially
charged with administrative supervision, review, evaluation or audit. Moreover,
this access to records is confined to materials essential to carrying out the
official functions of the Department or agency involved. Employees of agencies
who are engaged in investigation of welfare fraud will in no way be prohibited
access to case records. An individual may not have direct access to his own
case record except as provided in §
105.5 (relating to access by an
individual to his case file).
(g)
Authority to disclose information. Authority to disclose
information will vest in accordance with the following:
(1) Information in the possession of the
Department is within the exclusive control and custody of the
Secretary.
(2) Authority to
disclose information as provided for in this chapter is delegated to the
executive director of each county board of assistance, and to those persons in
the State Office that the Secretary designates from time to time.
(3) The executive director may delegate this
responsibility only to top supervisors of social service staff.
(4) The files and records of the Department
must be properly protected at all times. Each CAO shall have written rules on
the removal of material from the files, return of this material and supervision
of the files.
The provisions of this §105.1 amended under sections
201(2) and 403(b) of the Public Welfare Code (62 P. S. §§
201(2) and
403(b)).
This section cited in 55 Pa. Code §
201.4 (relating to
procedures).
