Privacy policy:

Protecting the privacy of your information at Peel Children’s Centre and Nexus Youth Services

We will protect the privacy of all the information you give us

Peel Children’s Centre/Nexus Youth Services are community agencies that work together to help children and youth. Peel Children’s Centre provides mental health treatment services to children and youth up to age 17 and their families. Nexus Youth Services provides counselling and other services to youth up to age 24. Staff from the agencies work together as a team of mental health care professionals.

The information you give us about yourself and your family is important to our work. It is important to the treatment you may receive and to any study you or your family may be taking part in.

To provide the best service possible, we need to collect and use information about you and your family. We promise to make sure that all your information is kept private and secure.

This page explains why we collect information about you and your family, and how we use it.

To learn more about how Peel Children’s Centre protects the privacy of your information, call our Privacy Officer at 905-795-3500 ext. 2647.

How We Use Your Information

We have rules, set out in a policy, about keeping your information private. We also have a Privacy Code that is based on the law. You may request a copy of our Privacy Code.

We collect basic information about you and your family so that we can provide the best service possible.  We also collect information for our records, as the law requires us to.

Each time you visit us, we collect information about you. Your information is given to your clinician, other professionals involved in your treatment, and students who are part of your treatment team. This information helps us find out what your concerns are. It also helps us provide the best treatment for you and your family, and it helps us track your progress in treatment.

Sometimes the information we collect may be used as part of a study to help us make children and youth healthier. It may also help us improve the way we run our organizations and the quality of service we give.

At times we may use your name and address to send you a client feedback survey by mail and ask you to complete it. Your feedback from the survey helps us improve the services we offer.

We may also write you to help raise money for our programs, equipment, buildings and research.

Who can look at your information

When you seek mental health services from us, we assume that we have your permission to collect, use and share your personal health information among the health care providers who provide or assist in providing health care to you.

We give your information to only those people who need it for their work. We also give your information to those who have a right to it by law. These are the people who may see your information:

• you, or the person responsible for making decisions for you,
• your clinician and other members of the treatment team who are part of our organizations,
• your other health care providers (e.g. family physician) outside the organizations so they can provide you with ongoing health care and follow-up,
• students and others training at our organizations,
• staff doing approved studies who do not need specific information that identifies you as a client,
• people who have a contract to provide services to our organizations, and
• other people, if you agree and provide written consent, or when the law requires it.

• when we suspect certain types of abuse,
• to reduce a significant risk of serious bodily harm to a person or to the public,
• in an emergency where the life, health, or security of an individual is threatened,
• to assist professionals who do health research, as long as strict privacy requirements are met, and
• for a legal proceeding, or to obey a court order or another legal requirement.

Your Rights and Choices

Seeing your information

You have a right to see your personal health information and to get a copy of it by asking us.  We may require your request in writing. Some exceptions may apply. For example, when the information relates to law enforcement, legal proceedings or another individual, you may not get to see the record.

We must reply to your request to see your information within 30 days, or later if it is reasonable to do so. You are entitled to be told how long it will take to get back to you if it will be longer than 30 days.

Correcting your record

Once you have seen your record of personal health information, if you believe it is inaccurate or incomplete, you may ask for a correction. We may require your request in writing. We must reply to your request for a correction within 30 days, or later if it is reasonable to do so. You are entitled to be told how long it will take to get back to you if it will be longer than 30 days.

We may not correct a record that was created by someone else. You are entitled to be told the reasons for not making a correction and of your right to have a statement of disagreement attached to your record.

When we correct a record, it must be done carefully so that the full corrected record remains visible, or by ensuring that the corrected version is readily available.

Information about our organizations, client feedback surveys, research, and raising money

Sometimes we may use your information to write you or your family about

• Our organizations and our services
• A client feedback survey
• A research study, or
• Raising money to support our organizations.

Information about Our Organizations

We may use only your name and address to send you information about our organizations and our services, for example, brochures or newsletters.

Client Surveys

We may ask you to complete a client satisfaction survey by mail. If we ask you to complete one of these mail surveys, this is what happens:

• We use only your name and address to send the survey.
• We use your answers to the survey to find out about the quality of the services you and your family received. This information helps us improve the services we provide in the future.

Research

If you agree to take part in a study, it is important to know that a Research Ethics Committee has already approved the study and the use of client or family information. The Research Ethics Committee is a group of people who make sure that all studies meet the highest standards for doing science properly.

 Raising Money

We may write you or your family when we are raising money. If this happens,

• We use only your name and address to send you these letters.
• Any money you give our organizations will be used for our programs, equipment, buildings or research.

The service you and your family get from our organizations will not be affected if you do not want to get information about our organizations, answer a client feedback survey, take part in a research study, or give money.

If you do not want us to use your information for certain purposes, such as writing you about our organizations, client feedback surveys, research, or raising money, please contact us. Give us your full name and a home phone number so we can call you in case we need to check the information.

Who to talk to about your privacy concerns

Please come to us if you are unhappy about something that has been done with your personal health information. We want to work out your concern with you. To talk about your concern and see what can be done to fix the situation, please speak to our Privacy Officer at:

Peel Children’s Centre / Nexus Youth Services
85A Aventura Court
Mississauga, ON
L5T 2Y6

Telephone: 905-795-3500 ext. 2647

Who to contact if we are unable to work out your concern about how your personal health information has been handled

You may get in touch with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario about any decision, action or inaction that you believe does not follow the Personal Health Information Protection Act. For instance, you may wish to get in touch with the Commissioner if:

• you have been unable to work out a concern about how we have handled your personal health information,
• you have been unable to see all your personal health information, or there has been a delay in our response to your request, or
• you feel that the personal health information in your record is wrong and you have been unable to get us to correct the information.