Prison work release and handler access to medical information.

[imbecamiel]

I'm writing a story involving a convicted felon on work release, working with law enforcement as a CI. (Takes place in the US.) The way I handle certain aspects of the story may be affected by what access law enforcement (most specifically his handler) would potentially have to his medical information. If necessary I can have the CI give permission

Comments

[etiennewestwind]

My understanding of work release is that the prisoner returns to the jail/prison when their work shift is over. It would cause problems convincing criminals to trust your character if he had to go sleep at the prison each night. You would probably want to have him serving an alternate sentence of some sort.

Prisoners are supposed to have the right to medical privacy, but you could make it a condition of the sentence that he put the handler down as his medical contact, which would give the handler the access to the info you want.

[imbecamiel]

Actually, going by what I've read, it seems there are a couple different types of work release. Some do involve the prisoner staying in jail when not actually working, but others allow for the person to live on their own, under essentially a modified house arrest (often with electronic monitoring) - allowed to go to and from work, but that's about it. The latter's essentially the case with my character: He's under electronic monitoring, and is only allowed a certain radius around his home when not actually working with his handler.

I do think that that should work out well, in context - having the handler as his medical contact, already set up at the point of his release. The more I think of it, the more it seems the easiest way to incorporate what I need. Yay!

Thank you for the help!

[etiennewestwind]

Huh, I thought that latter fell under alternate sentence as opposed to work release, but with 50 semi-sovereign states, there is room for variation.

Thanks for the info.

[lilacsigil]

If the medical condition is relevant to his work release then the person in charge of organising that will be given that information. For example, if the parolee needs to take medication during the day, or have a rescue inhaler or an Epipen, or if there's certain kinds of work they can't do (epileptics posted near flashing roadwork lights for example).

Sometimes "you must continue to take X medication" or "you must see this doctor X times a week/month/year" is written into the parole conditions, but it's usually for things like psych medication or alcohol or other drug rehab-related medication.

Either way, the law enforcement official will be given specific knowledge about the parolee rather than general information (though general information may be included depending if the doctor feels it's relevant). This is not to say it would be hard for the official to find out - filing systems can be sloppy and staff share information with each other that they really shouldn't. It wouldn't be hard to do, but technically illegal.

[imbecamiel]

Thank you, this really helps! I think if things develop to where he needs to know anything that might not be easily covered under this, I'll have some specific clause in his release about the handler being given any medical information that may affect his ability to do the work. But this helps me see what I have to work with. :)

[vanillafluffy]

The CI would need to give written permission for his medical info to be shared with anyone. (Unless felons forfeit HIPPA rights? That IDK.)

.

[imbecamiel]

Prisoners/felons don't forfeit HIPPA rights, but there is more wiggle room, there - when they are in custody, doctors can give law enforcement information that they may need, security-wise, or for their care. The thing that gets a little more confusing for me is in the situation of work-release... because it's less clear whether the person would be considered "in custody," or whether doctors would be more limited in the information they could give... XD

But I think it's probably going to be simplest to have that written permission set up at the point of his release, so it's not a present-time issue.