P.R. Laws tit. 8, § 446f
No person, official, officer, employee, or agency shall have access to records unless it is to comply with purposes directly related to the administration of this chapter, or by virtue of a court order. The persons, officials, officers, or agencies that shall have access to said records, without this necessarily involving the delivery of copies, shall be:
(a) The officer or employee of the Department or the agency that renders the direct services, when it is for the purpose of performing the functions assigned to him or her by this chapter.
(b) The Advocate for Minors’ Affairs, the prosecutor and/or police officers of the Specialized Sexual Crimes, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence Unit in any case that investigates the commission of acts that constitute crimes related to this chapter, and the family advocate.
(c) The physician or behavioral professional who renders direct services to a minor in protection cases under this chapter.
(d) The Multi-Sector Coordinating Board, the multidisciplinary professional teams, the Death Review Panel, and the Permanency Plan Review Board.
(e) Any person conducting bona fide data research. The Secretary or his or her designee shall evaluate and determine whether or not written authorization should be given. Said person shall not be given information related to the identity of the informant or informants, the victim of abuse, or the subject of the report. The criteria for compliance with the provisions of this subsection shall be established by the Secretary. The confidentiality provisions contained in this chapter shall also extend to the research work described herein.
(f) The court, if it is found that access to the records is needed to resolve a controversy related to the well-being of the minor; in which case, said access shall be limited to an inspection by the judge in chambers.
(g) Any behavior or health professional contracted by the Administration for Children and Families of the Department of the Family who provides child sex abuse evaluation, validation, and treatment services in multidisciplinary clinical centers or programs affiliated to such agency.
Any physician or person in charge of a medical or other institution, or any school, establishment, entity, or agency that has made a referral for abuse, institutional abuse, neglect, and/or institutional neglect, in compliance with the provisions of this chapter, shall receive, upon request, the results of the investigation conducted with regard to the referred case.
No person authorized to receive confidential information pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may divulge said information. This prohibition shall not include the subject of the report, the prosecutors, the advocates for minors’ affairs, family advocates, special advocates for the protection of minors, or police officers, when the information obtained is to be used in judicial or administrative proceeding.
Information obtained by virtue of a procedure covered by this chapter may only be used for the benefit of the minor in cases related to this chapter. Nothing in the provisions of this chapter may be construed as having the purpose of altering the norms and procedures relative to court files or those of the criminal justice system of Puerto Rico.
History —Aug. 1, 2003, No. 177, § 27; Sept. 29, 2004, No. 510, § 8; Dec. 17, 2009, No. 185, § 1.