Duty to Warn
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Social Workers and “Duty to Warn” State Laws
Introduction
Social workers often inquire about their duty to report threats of harm that they learn about in the course of a professional relationship with a client. A prior LDF Legal Issue of the Month article, Social Workers and the Duty to Warn, reviewed court decisions that have addressed this topic; however, many states have passed duty-to-warn legislation and the specific contours of the duty to warn are defined on a state by state basis. This Legal Issue of the Month article focuses on the state statutes relating to the social workers’ duty to warn.
Background
Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California (1976) is the landmark case that established the duty to warn in California and its reasoning has been applied to establish a duty to warn in states across the country. Generally, a therapist’s duty to warn is based on what the courts view as a “special relationship” established between the treating clinician and the patient who is in need of mental health treatment.
By accepting responsibility for the care of a client in need of mental health treatment, the clinical social worker may owe a duty to protect third parties from harm threatened by the client. The court in Tarasoff found, “When a therapist determines, or pursuant to the standards of his profession should determine, that his patient presents a serious danger of violence to another, he incurs an obligation to use reasonable care to protect the intended victim against such danger” (Tarasoff, 1976, p. 340). Generally, the duty applies to situations where the client identifies himself as the potentially dangerous person. Thus, it would not generally apply where a client discloses in therapy that a third party intends to harm another third party.
Duty to Warn – State Variations
Mandatory Duty to Warn
Many social workers are unaware that duty to warn laws vary from state to state and that a few states have not established a statutory duty to warn. Twenty-two states have statutes applicable to social workers that establish a mandatory duty to warn. These are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. A number of these states also have court decisions that have interpreted the duty to warn laws.
“Permissive” Standard
A second group of states give permission in state statutes for social workers to warn of serious threats. These states are: Alaska, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virgin Islands, West Virginia, and Wyoming. In some states, such as Texas, the permission to warn is limited to notifying medical or law enforcement personnel, not the threatened person or persons.
No Statutory Standard
A third set of states does not provide any statutory language for social workers addressing the duty to warn, but some of these have implemented the duty through court decisions. Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin do not have statutory provisions, but have established a duty to warn through court decisions. States that are silent as to the social worker’s duty to warn are Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, and Puerto Rico.
