CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT
All information that you will encounter as a volunteer and staff with Prison Fellowship Canada (PFC) is highly sensitive and confidential. It is governed by the federal Privacy Act of Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and provincial privacy and confidentiality legislation where applicable (Note: In Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, provincial legislation supersedes PIPEDA).
Therefore, as a PFC volunteer or staff member, you agree that you will not at any time disclose or disseminate in an unauthorized manner information pertaining to the prisoners, their children and caregivers; or victims participating in any of PFC programs, or any other information you may encounter as it relates to PFC.
An authorized manner is as follows:
1) La personne à laquelle l'information se rapporte directement a identifié cette information en particulier et a consenti à sa divulgation.
2) The information is being used for the purpose for which it was obtained or compiled or for a consistent purpose.
3) The information is disposed of in a secure manner given its highly sensitive nature, once it is no longer required for the purpose (E.g. cross-cut shredding of paper documents).
This requires strict adherence by you to the express recorded or written permissions and implied consent given (or not given) by the prisoner, former prisoner, caregivers or victims regarding all information provided; for example, express consent must be given on our Angel Tree applications and on our Bridgecare Focal Assessment forms. You also agree to the principles of confidentiality in this agreement entitled
“Confidentiality of the Client” (see below).
Further, you agree to take reasonable steps to protect any confidential information you receive as it relates to your involvement with PFC, and will destroy any paperwork you or anyone on your team has upon completion of your duties.
Lastly, all unpublished data regarding PFC’s volunteers, donors, finances, programs, etc. is confidential and this information shall not be disclosed by you at any time both during the employment or volunteering period in this organization and afterwards.
CONFIDENTIALITY OF THE CLIENT*
Confidentiality, as a practice and responsibility of PFC Volunteers, is based on respect for the individual. The person who has come into conflict with the law may be extremely sensitive to the public’s reaction to his or her criminal record. Having been convicted of a criminal offence sometimes carries a societal judgment that this person is expected to behave in an untrustworthy manner. If these expectations are maintained, the person may continue to view him or herself as untrustworthy.
The responsibility for the relationship between PFC volunteers and staff is based on mutual trust, hence the necessity for strict adherence to the principles of confidentiality as set out below.
Information concerning clients that is kept on file must be factual and verifiable. All records and files are subject to subpoena by the courts.
Information obtained from a client is shared with other agencies and professionals only with the permission from the client. Exceptions to this may include:
A person who is too ill, physically or mentally, to give such permission and it is to the client’s benefit that the information be shared.
If withholding of such information may endanger the client or another person.
If case records are used in research, the researcher must agree to make every effort to keep the material confidential and to use it in such a way that no individual case will be identifiable through the material published.
Case histories, when used as illustrative material in talks or published material, are changed in such a way that no individual can be identified. Case histories are, where possible, prefaced by a remark indicating that the story has been altered to protect the identity of the client.
For the Bridgecare program specifically:
With the express written permission and involvement of the Bridgecare client, it is good to meet with the pastor of the church together where the client would like to regularly attend. The pastor/leadership team should agree to abide by the principles of confidentiality. PFC can support this process especially where they may be a concern by any party.
Except for discussions between the Team Leader and PFC personnel, what is shared in the PFC volunteer team meetings stays with the team. The revelation of anything that may harm a team member or others will be discussed among the team and appropriate action will be taken including consulting with PFC. Note: There is a legal obligation to report to a society if someone has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child under 16 may be in need of protection.
Problems with confidentiality arise on occasions for which there are no hard and fast rules. PFC volunteers who are working with a client are required to consult with PFC personnel where a situation appears unclear.
*Le client est le prisonnier ou l'ancien prisonnier.
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Visit https://prisonfellowship.ca/pfc-confidentiality-agreement-page for privacy policy and Terms of Service.