Web-based resources for legal and ethical issues in school counseling

Professional School Counseling, Oct, 2003 by Lynne Guillot-Miller, Patricia W. Partin

Links to two beneficial Web sites for school counselors can be accessed through the Department of Education site. The first is maintained by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/. This site includes sections titled "Know Your Rights," "Prevention," "Civil Rights Data," "About OCR," "Reading Room," and "Related Links." The "What's New" and "Frequently Asked Questions" sections are also valuable. School counselors will find multiple documents on this site useful. Examples of topics that can be accessed through this site include sex discrimination, race and national origin discrimination, disability discrimination, developing policies to avoid discrimination, and the Office of Civil Rights complaint process.

The second site is maintained by the Family Policy Compliance Office at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/fpco/. This site has information on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). An ambitious project to develop a collection of documents on FERPA and PPRA is in the process and has not yet been completed. Much of the valuable information for this site is found in links on the home page. School Counselors can access FERPA documents at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/fpco/ferpalist.html. The information that can be accessed includes a FERPA Fact Sheet, FERPA Regulations, and FERPA Legislative History. There is also information on the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment.

The link titled "Publications" at the Family Policy Compliance Office Web site located at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/fpco/fpcopubs.html will lead school counselors to a lengthy document rifled "Sharing Information: A Guide to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act" and "Participation in Juvenile Justice Programs" (Medaris, Campbell, & James, 1997) or the document can be accessed directly at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/findex.html.> One drawback of Family Policy Compliance Office Web site is that parts of the site have not been updated since 2000. The "Hot Topics" section at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OM/fpco/Hot Topics.html does include information dated 2002 about changes to FERPA and PPRA. This site should be visited periodically for new information.

State Supreme Court Sites

State legal sites vary in content that may be helpful to professional school counselors. Most states have state court sites. The North Carolina Supreme Court Library Web site located at http://www.aoc.state.nc.us/www/copyright/library/bklong.htm, for example, has a nine-page list of links for Internet legal research.

Most state Attorney General's offices also offer Web sites. These sites can be valuable because the information is state specific. A number of the Web sites supply information from the state's attorney general on various topics and provide other valuable data. The North Carolina Attorney General's Web site at http://www.jus.state.nc.us/section has, for example, a "Citizen's Rights Division" at http://www.jus.state.nc.us/crframe.htm that includes a child abuse section. The section rifled "Child Sexual Abuse Guidelines: Recommendations for Professionals" at http://www.jus.state.nc.us/crsmain/csag/cover.htm (Easley, 1998), which can be accessed from the Citizen's Rights Division site, was developed for use by professionals in many job settings. School counselors can also order materials that can be used to familiarize children regarding the court system from information provided on this site.