Minor's records; access to records contained in or made available through secure website.
Summary
HB2615 amends Virginia law governing a parent’s access to a minor child’s records. The bill clarifies that a parent may not be denied access to a child’s academic records, health records, or records held by a child day center or family day home, and it expressly states that this access includes access to any secure website where those records are stored or made available. The measure preserves existing exceptions for court-ordered restrictions and for certain health-record denials based on professional judgment that disclosure would likely cause substantial harm to the minor or another person.
The bill also ties parental access denials for health records to the existing review procedures in Virginia’s health-record confidentiality law, ensuring that a parent or minor can seek review of a denial. It incorporates existing statutory definitions for health records, health care entities, child day centers, and family day homes, rather than creating new ones. In practical terms, the bill would update Virginia’s parental-record-access rules to account for modern online portals and secure websites used by schools, health providers, and child care providers.
Impact
HB2615 would amend and reenact § 20-124.6 of the Code of Virginia. Its main legal effect is to expand the statutory definition of access to include secure web portals, which would require schools, health care entities, and child care providers to treat online access as part of a parent’s record-access rights. The bill does not broadly change confidentiality rules, but it would make clear that existing access rights apply to digital record systems and that existing exceptions and review procedures continue to govern health records.
Sentiment
The available vote history suggests little to no opposition at the subcommittee level: the bill was recommended to be struck from the docket by an 8-0 vote. Because there are no committee transcripts provided, there is no recorded debate to indicate broader support or criticism. The vote result indicates the measure did not advance out of that subcommittee stage, despite the unanimous vote on the motion.
Contention
The central policy issue is the balance between parental access rights and privacy or safety concerns for minors, especially in the context of health records. The bill preserves the existing professional-judgment exception that allows denial of access when disclosure could cause substantial harm, so any contention would likely focus on whether expanding access to secure websites could inadvertently expose sensitive information or conflict with confidentiality protections. Another possible point of concern is the administrative burden on schools, health care entities, and child care providers to ensure portal access aligns with statutory access rights.