Sec. 17b-90. (Formerly Sec. 17-83). Disclosure of information concerning program applicants and participants. Limitations. Regulations.
Sec. 17b-90. (Formerly Sec. 17-83). Disclosure of information concerning program applicants and participants. Limitations. Regulations. (a) The commissioner
shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, necessary to enable him to carry
out the programs the Department of Social Services is designated to administer pursuant
to section 17b-2, including any regulations necessary for receiving grants from the federal government to this state if the absence of any such regulation would result in the
loss of such grants and regulations governing the custody and use of the records, papers,
files and communications concerning persons applying for or receiving assistance under
said sections. When names and addresses of recipients of such assistance are required
by law to be furnished to or held by any other government agency, such agency shall
adopt regulations to prevent the publication of lists thereof or their use for purposes not
directly connected with the administration of said programs.
(b) No person shall, except for purposes directly connected with the administration
of programs of the Department of Social Services and in accordance with the regulations
of the commissioner, solicit, disclose, receive or make use of, or authorize, knowingly
permit, participate in or acquiesce in the use of, any list of the names of, or any information concerning, persons applying for or receiving assistance from the Department of
Social Services or persons participating in a program administered by said department,
directly or indirectly derived from the records, papers, files or communications of the
state or its subdivisions or agencies, or acquired in the course of the performance of
official duties. The Commissioner of Social Services shall disclose (1) to any authorized
representative of the Labor Commissioner such information directly related to unemployment compensation, administered pursuant to chapter 567 or information necessary
for implementation of sections 17b-688b, 17b-688c and 17b-688h and section 122 of
public act 97-2 of the June 18 special session*, (2) to any authorized representative of
the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services any information necessary
for the implementation and operation of the basic needs supplement program or for
the management of and payment for behavioral health services for applicants for and
recipients of state-administered general assistance, (3) to any authorized representative
of the Commissioner of Administrative Services, or the Commissioner of Public Safety
such information as the state Commissioner of Social Services determines is directly
related to and necessary for the Department of Administrative Services or the Department of Public Safety for purposes of performing their functions of collecting social
services recoveries and overpayments or amounts due as support in social services cases,
investigating social services fraud or locating absent parents of public assistance recipients, (4) to any authorized representative of the Commissioner of Children and Families
necessary information concerning a child or the immediate family of a child receiving
services from the Department of Social Services, including safety net services, if the
Commissioner of Children and Families or the Commissioner of Social Services has
determined that imminent danger to such child's health, safety or welfare exists to target
the services of the family services programs administered by the Department of Children
and Families, (5) to a town official or other contractor or authorized representative of
the Labor Commissioner such information concerning an applicant for or a recipient
of financial or medical assistance under state-administered general assistance deemed
necessary by said commissioners to carry out their respective responsibilities to serve
such persons under the programs administered by the Labor Department that are designed to serve applicants for or recipients of state-administered general assistance, (6)
to any authorized representative of the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction
Services for the purposes of the behavioral health managed care program established
by section 17a-453, (7) to any authorized representative of the Commissioner of Public
Health to carry out his or her respective responsibilities under programs that regulate
child day care services or youth camps, or (8) to a health insurance provider, in IV-D
support cases, as defined in section 46b-231, information concerning a child and the
custodial parent of such child that is necessary to enroll such child in a health insurance
plan available through such provider when the noncustodial parent of such child is
under court order to provide health insurance coverage but is unable to provide such
information, provided the Commissioner of Social Services determines, after providing
prior notice of the disclosure to such custodial parent and an opportunity for such parent
to object, that such disclosure is in the best interests of the child. No such representative
shall disclose any information obtained pursuant to this section, except as specified in
this section. Any applicant for assistance provided through said department shall be
notified that, if and when such applicant receives benefits, the department will be providing law enforcement officials with the address of such applicant upon the request of any
such official pursuant to section 17b-16a.
(c) In IV-D support cases, as defined in subdivision (13) of subsection (b) of section
46b-231, in addition to the prohibitions of subsection (b) of this section, no information
shall be released concerning the whereabouts of one party to another party (1) against
whom a protective order, a restraining order or a standing criminal restraining order
with respect to the former party is in effect, or (2) if the department has reason to believe
that the release of the information may result in physical or emotional harm to the former
party.
(d) The Commissioner of Social Services shall provide written notice to a person
applying for or receiving assistance from the Department of Social Services or a person
participating in a program administered by said department that such person's address
and telephone number may be provided to the Department of Children and Families
pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section.
(e) Penalties prescribed by subsection (b) of section 17b-97 shall apply to violations
of this section.
(1949 Rev., S. 2888, 2897, 2912; September, 1957, P.A. 11, S. 27, 28; March, 1958, P.A. 27, S. 73; 1969, P.A. 306;
1971, P.A. 642, S. 2; P.A. 73-25, S. 1, 4; P.A. 75-420, S. 4, 6; P.A. 77-614, S. 69, 587, 608, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 126,
136; P.A. 88-156, S. 13; P.A. 93-262, S. 35, 87; P.A. 96-263, S. 1, 2; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, S. 37, 124, 165; June
18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-7, S. 8, 38; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-8, S. 19, 88; P.A. 98-239, S. 19, 35; 98-250, S. 30, 39; P.A. 03-89, S. 1; P.A. 04-76, S. 9; P.A. 05-272, S. 3.)
*Note: Section 122 of public act 97-2 of the June 18 special session is special in nature and therefore has not been
codified but remains in full force and effect according to its terms.
History: 1969 act added proviso in Subsec. (b) re access to welfare case records by representative of finance and control
commissioner; 1971 act rephrased proviso re access to records granted finance and control representative; P.A. 73-25
replaced reference to repealed Secs. 17-102 and 17-132 with reference to Sec. 17-83i(b) in Subsec. (c); P.A. 75-420
replaced welfare commissioner and department with commissioner and department of social services; P.A. 77-614 replaced
commissioner and department of finance and control with commissioner and department of administrative services and,
effective January 1, 1979, replaced commissioner and department of social services with commissioner and department
of income maintenance; P.A. 78-303 included in disclosure provision commissioner and department of state police, replaced
as of January 1, 1979, with commissioner and department of public safety; P.A. 88-156 replaced social services recipients
with public assistance recipients in Subsec. (b); P.A. 93-262 replaced references to "this chapter" with references to
programs of department of social services or persons participating in a program administered by said department and
replaced references to department and commissioner of income maintenance with references to department and commissioner of social services, effective July 1, 1993; Sec. 17-83 transferred to Sec. 17b-90 in 1995; P.A. 96-263 added Subsec.
(b)(2) re disclosure of the address and telephone number of a child receiving services from the Department of Social
Services to the Commissioner of Children and Families and added Subsec. (d) re the provision of written notice to a person
applying or receiving assistance from the Department of Social Services, effective June 10, 1996 (Revisor's note: Subsec.
(d) was editorially designated by the Revisors as Subsec. (c) and previously existing Subsec. (c) designated as (d) to retain
penalty provisions' placement at end of section); June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2 amended Subsec. (a) to make technical and
conforming changes and amended Subsec. (b) by mandating the Commissioner of Social Services to disclose to any
authorized representative of the Labor Commissioner such information directly related to unemployment compensation,
administered pursuant to chapter 567 or information necessary for the implementation of Secs. 17b-688b to 17b-688d,
inclusive and Sec. 122 of June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-2, to disclose, to any authorized representative of the Commissioner
of Mental Health and Addiction Services any information necessary for the implementation and operation of the basic
needs supplement program, to disclose to any authorized representative of the Commissioner of Children and Families
necessary information concerning the evaluation of the TANF program, expanding the mandate on the Commissioner of
Children and Families from providing the address and telephone number to any necessary information of a child or the
immediate family of a child receiving services from the Department of Social Services if the Commissioner of Children
and Families has determined that imminent danger to such child's health, safety or welfare exists, adding a provision
mandating an applicant for the program be notified that, if and when such applicant receives benefits, the department shall
provide law enforcement officials with the name and address of such applicant upon the request of such official pursuant
to Sec. 17b-16a, effective July 1, 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-7 inserted new Subsec. (c) re limitations on disclosure
of information of whereabouts of one party to another party in IV-D support cases, relettering former Subsecs. (c) and (d)
accordingly, effective July 1, 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-8 made a technical change in Subsec. (a) and added Subsec.
(b)(3) re authorized representatives, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-239 amended Subsec. (b) to require the department to
notify applicants for assistance under any department-administered program, rather than just the temporary family assistance program, that it will provide law enforcement officials with their addresses, eliminating reference to their names,
effective June 8, 1998; P.A. 98-250 expande Subsec. (b)(1) re management of and payment for behavioral health services
for general assistance and divided Subdiv. (1) into Subdivs. (1), (2) and (3), deleted former Subdiv. (2)(A) re evaluation
of temporary assistance for needy families programs, added safety net services, Commissioner of Social Services and
targeting of family services programs in former Subdiv. (2) designating it as Subdiv. (4), added Subdiv. (5) re disclosure
to town official or Labor Commissioner and designated former Subdiv. (3) as Subdiv. (6), effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 03-89 added Subsec. (b)(7) re permissible disclosures to health insurance providers in IV-D support cases and by making a
technical change; P.A. 04-76 amended Subsec. (b) by deleting references to "general assistance"; P.A. 05-272 added
Subsec. (b)(7) to authorize disclosures to authorized representatives of the Commissioner of Public Health for purposes
of carrying out their responsibilities under programs regulating child day care services or youth camps, redesignating
existing Subdiv. (7) as Subdiv. (8).
Annotations to former section 17-83:
Cited. 165 C. 490. Cited. 192 C. 310.
Cited. 32 CS 598.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 170 C. 258.
Subsec. (b):
Protection of confidentiality discussed. 192 C. 310. Cited. 221 C. 393.