Amends TCA Title 24; Title 36 and Title 39.

Under this bill, unless a report of abuse is otherwise required by law or permitted by an exception as discussed below, an advocate is prohibited from disclosing any of the following in a judicial, legislative, or administrative proceeding in regard to a person seeking assistance because the person is a domestic abuse victim, a victim of sexual offense, a trafficked person, or a victim of stalking:<br /> <br /> (1) A communication, including verbal; written; or otherwise stored information, received by the advocate from the victim; <br /> <br /> (2) Records regarding the victim stored by the advocate in the course of business;<br /> <br /> (3) Counseling the victim received; <br /> <br /> (4) Crisis intervention services the victim received; or<br /> <br /> (5) The location of the shelter that accommodated the victim.<br /> <br /> The victim may waive the privilege of the communication as described above only by express written consent. This bill specifies that a victim's consent is not implied when the victim is a party to any judicial, legislative, or administrative proceeding. The privilege will terminate upon the death of the victim. This bill states that it does not limit the defendant's right to cross-examine the advocate in a proceeding in which the advocate testifies with the written consent of the victim or is otherwise compelled to testify by law or the court as discussed below. <br /> <br /> This bill authorizes an advocate to disclose a confidential communication received by the advocate from a victim in the following in the following circumstances:<br /> <br /> (1) To other advocates of the victim services provider and third-party providers, if the victim consents;<br /> <br /> (2) To a law enforcement agency in limited circumstances to protect the victim or another individual or to locate the victim for purposes of an investigative interview; <br /> <br /> (3) To make a report regarding child abuse or neglect, child sexual abuse, or abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly or vulnerable adult;<br /> <br /> (4) When the confidential communications are relevant to a claim or defense if the victim files a lawsuit against an advocate or victim services provider; or <br /> <br /> (5) Upon issuance of a court order compelling disclosure if, upon the motion of a party, the court makes certain findings detailed by this bill.<br /> <br /> For purposes of this bill, "advocate" means an employee or volunteer of a domestic violence shelter, crisis line, or victim's services provider that provides services for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or human trafficking who has completed a minimum of 20 hours of relevant training from a victim services provider.<br /> <br /> ON MARCH 15, 2021, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 624, AS AMENDED.<br /> <br /> AMENDMENT #1 defines "victim services provider" for purposes of this bill, removes this bill's requirement that a victim advocate must obtain a victim's written consent in order to disclose a confidential communication to another advocate for purposes of facilitating delivery of services to the victim, and specifies that this bill does not limit the access to records by the department of children's services when the department is investigating an allegation of child abuse or neglect.<br />