(1)In order to protect the rights of the child and the child's parents or other persons responsible for the child's welfare, all records held by the department concerning reports of child abandonment, abuse, or neglect, including reports made to the central abuse hotline and all records generated as a result of such reports, shall be confidential and exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and shall not be disclosed except as specifically authorized by this chapter. Such exemption from s. 119.07(1) applies to information in the possession of those entities granted access as set forth in this section.
(2)Except as provided in subsection (4), access to such records, excluding the name of, or other identifying information with respect to, the reporter which may only be released as provided in subsection (5), may only be granted to the following persons, officials, and agencies:(a) Employees, authorized agents, or contract providers of the department, the Department of Health, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Department of Education, or county agencies responsible for carrying out:1. Child or adult protective investigations; 2. Ongoing child or adult protective services; 3. Early intervention and prevention services; 4. Healthy Start services; 5. Licensure or approval of adoptive homes, foster homes, child care facilities, facilities licensed under chapters 393 and 394, family day care homes, providers who receive school readiness funding under part VI of chapter 1002, or other homes used to provide for the care and welfare of children; 6. Employment screening for caregivers in residential group homes and facilities licensed under chapters 393, 394, and 409; or 7. Services for victims of domestic violence when provided by certified domestic violence centers working at the department's request as case consultants or with shared clients. Also, employees or agents of the Department of Juvenile Justice responsible for the provision of services to children, pursuant to chapters 984 and 985.
(b)Criminal justice agencies of appropriate jurisdiction.
(c)The state attorney of the judicial circuit in which the child resides or in which the alleged abuse or neglect occurred.
(d)The parent or legal custodian of any child who is alleged to have been abused, abandoned, or neglected; the child; the child's guardian ad litem; the child's attorney ad litem, if one is appointed; or any attorney representing a child in civil or criminal proceedings. This access must be made available no later than 60 days after the department receives the initial report of abuse, neglect, or abandonment. However, any information otherwise made confidential or exempt by law may not be released pursuant to this paragraph.
(e)Any person alleged in the report as having caused the abuse, abandonment, or neglect of a child. This access shall be made available no later than 60 days after the department receives the initial report of abuse, abandonment, or neglect and, when the alleged perpetrator is not a parent, shall be limited to information involving the protective investigation only and shall not include any information relating to subsequent dependency proceedings. However, any information otherwise made confidential or exempt by law shall not be released pursuant to this paragraph.
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