Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child and Family Services is dedicated to ensuring the privacy of your personal information.

In connection with the delivery of Children’s Mental Health, Family Centred Conferencing, Supervised Access, and Developmental Services, Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child and Family Services is designated as a health information custodian, and is committed to complying with the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) 2004, which requires that personal health information be kept private and secure.  Amongst other things, PHIPA also governs the collection, use and disclosure of your personal health information.

Consent
We will collect, use and disclose the personal health information of our clients only with express or implied consent.  PHIPA also provides that an individual can withdraw consent at any time. In cases where we collect, use or disclose personal health information without consent, we will do so only where the law permits or requires us to.

Although our clients are generally children, they are entitled to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of their personal health information when they are capable to do so.  A client’s parent or other person authorized by law can normally provide consent to collect, use or disclose personal health information on his/her behalf.

Collection of Personal Health Information
We collect personal health information directly for our clients, or from individuals authorized to act on their behalf, in order to provide mental health, developmental services, case management, and health care services to our clients.

The personal health information that we collect from and about our clients may include, for example, our client’s name, date of birth, clinical history, health and family information, records of clinical meetings and information respecting the care we provide and the care and treatment of our clients may have received elsewhere.

Occasionally, we may collect personal health information from other sources, such as other care providers, schools and physicians where we have obtained consent to do so or if the law permits.

We will not collect personal health information if other information will serve the purpose. In addition, we will not collect more personal health information than what is reasonably necessary to meet the purpose.

In some circumstances, we may collect information from our clients and others for the purpose of providing Child Protection Services. In these circumstances, we will not collect personal health information, even from our own records, except with express consent or where required to comply with our legal obligations (eg. providing Child Protection Services and reporting the abuse of a child to provide such services).

Use and Disclosure of Personal Health Information
We may share our clients’ personal health information with other professionals who provide care to our clients for the purpose of providing health care services, and unless clients tell us otherwise, we assume that we have our clients’ consent to do so.

With the express consent of our clients, we may also share personal health information with service providers within KRRCFS who are not health care providers or health information custodians, for the purpose of delivering services to our clients, in order to:

  • Facilitate and provide services, including to determine which of our services is most appropriate for the client;
  • Conduct audits;
  • Plan, administer and manage our internal operations;
  • Conduct risk management and quality improvement activities;
  • Facilitate reviews by accrediting or governing bodies;
  • Conduct permitted research; and
  • Fulfill other purposes permitted or required by law.

Staff will not use or disclose the information received for any purpose other than the purpose for which the information was collected, or for the purpose of carrying out a statutory or legal duty.  They will not use or disclose more information than is reasonably necessary to meet the purpose for which the information was provided, unless disclosure is required by law.

Access and Correction of Record of Personal Health Information
Under PHIPA, an individual (or someone legally authorized to act on their behalf) has the right to request access to and correction of their record of personal health information. A client may see or ask us to correct a record by making a written request to our Privacy Officer, identified below.

Security
We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that personal health information in our custody or control is protected against theft, loss, and unauthorized use or disclosure.  Paper records containing personal information including health information, is maintained in secure and locked files. All electronic records require passwords to access.  In the unfortunate event that personal health information is stolen, lost or accessed by unauthorized persons, we would normally inform the client’s or his/her parent/guardian of such an occurrence at the first reasonable opportunity.

Privacy Officer
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the privacy and/or information practices at Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child and Family Services, please ask to see our Privacy Policy or contact our Privacy Officer at (807)274-7787.

Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
If you are not able to resolve a privacy issue directly with Kenora-Rainy River Districts Child and Family Services, you may contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario at 2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400, Toronto, ON.  M4W 1A8.