ShareHouse has been the leader in Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and Mental Health services in the Upper Midwest for forty years. We take our role as a service leader seriously and want to be a resource to law enforcement agencies around the region. In order to do so, the following is meant to serve as a guide to create positive interactions between our organizations and the law enforcement agencies we work with on a daily basis. As a licensed behavioral healthcare company there are two pieces of federal healthcare policy which we must adhere to on a daily basis. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that helps protect the privacy of individual health information. For individuals living with mental illness, this law is important, because it helps protect confidential mental health treatment records. Meanwhile 42 CFR Part 2 protects the confidentiality of addiction treatment records of any person who has sought treatment for or been diagnosed with addiction at a federally assisted program. 42 CFR Part 2 aims to encourage people to seek treatment without fear of legal or social consequences. When it comes to working with ShareHouse and our patients, we respectfully ask for the following;
Partnering with
Law Enforcement
Entering Onto ShareHouse Property
Please report to the main lobby and our team will be happy to assist you. Parking in the parking lot or loitering on our private property is considered a breach of 42 CFR and might possibly need to be reported to the U.S. Office of the Inspector General.
Requesting To Speak With A Patient
In order to speak directly with a patient, ShareHouse must have a Release Of Information (ROI) signed by the patient. We are legally not allowed to confirm if a patient is on our property or not. Please stop by the main desk and leave a card with contact information, so can proceed to possibly facilitate a conversation from there.
Requesting Documentation Or Video
In order to comply with requests for documentation or video involving patients, we must have a court order to do so (Subpoena will not suffice). Otherwise if there is an incident with the general public which spills over onto our property and there were no patients in the line of sight, we are happy to provide video upon written request.
Serving Legal Documents To A Patient
Similar to requesting to speak with a patient, ShareHouse must have a ROI to allow a patient to speak directly with a law enforcement member. We cannot confirm nor deny if a patient is present at a facility and therefore cannot accept the documentation. Please leave a card with contact information and we will potentially forward it on to the patient.
Emergency Situations
If ShareHouse requests emergency services for their own purposes, law enforcement is allowed to enter where requested. If a general public situation spills over to ShareHouse property, please proceed to the main lobby first and our staff will be happy to assist within the confines of HIPAA and 42 CFR. Our goal is to serve the best interests of our patients and partners, while staying within the confines of federal regulations. If you have any additional questions or would like to receive copies of this guide for your law enforcement agency please reach out to Ty Hegland, President/CEO, at 877-294-6561 or lwhitten@sharehouse.org.
Warrants
Due to being a licensed behavioral healthcare provider ShareHouse is not legally allowed to acknowledge a patient is on our campus if a law enforcement agency presents with a subpoena, search warrant, and/or arrest warrant. We encourage law enforcement agencies to work with a judge/court system to obtain a court order requiring ShareHouse to authorize the release or disclosure of patient identifying. Once the court order is obtained, we ask for the agency to give us a call in advance so we can ensure a smooth facilitation.
