ACTS Addiction Counseling Studies

The federal confidentiality law and regulations protect the privacy of substance use disorder (SUD) patient records by prohibiting unauthorized disclosures of patient records except in limited circumstances. Congress enacted the legislation in the 1970s to encourage individuals with SUDs to enter and remain in treatment. 42 USC § 290dd-2. The regulations implementing the law are at 42 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 2 and are commonly referred to as “Part 2.” Part 2 prohibits treatment programs and certain third party recipients from disclosing patient identifying information or records without consent of the client. (SAMHSA, TIP 51, 2009).

This course is designed documents from information gathered from various resources, including SAMHSA and Legal Action Center. Each course chapter includes a reading assignment and a chapter examination.

Course Modality: This is an independent home-study course. Students will take the course according to their own timeline. 

Course Completion: To receive the course certificate, each student is required to agree to Student Learning Contract, read all text-based materials, view any media posted, complete and pass course examination, and complete and submit course evaluation. 

Note: Posted materials are free from SAMHSA and other public domain sites. 

Course fee applies for continuing education hours and a certificate of completion.