Advisory Opinion No. 2014-6 Rhode Island Ethics Commission Advisory Opinion No. 2014-6 Approved: March 11, 2014 Re: Jessica A. Bonanno, LICSW QUESTION PRESENTED: The Petitioner, a clinical social worker at the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families, Division of Juvenile Corrections, a state employee position, requests an advisory opinion regarding whether the Code of Ethics prohibits her from providing counseling services in her private capacity at Counseling Services of RI. RESPONSE: It is the opinion of the Rhode Island Ethics Commission that the Petitioner, a clinical social worker at the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families, Division of Juvenile Corrections, a state employee position, is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from providing counseling services in her private capacity at Counseling Services of RI, based on her representations below and provided that all such work is performed on her own time and without the use of public resources or confidential information obtained as part of her public employment. The Petitioner is a clinical social worker for the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families (“DCYF”) Division of Juvenile Corrections. She represents that she works full-time, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the juvenile female treatment unit at the Rhode Island Training School (“Training School”) in Cranston. She informs that the Training School is a highly structured, secure residential facility where youths are placed by order of the Family Court on a finding of waywardness or delinquency. She states that her primary role is as a case manager, with a clinical mental health component, for a maximum of twelve (12) juvenile females. She represents that she works to aid in the rehabilitation of each girl on her caseload by helping them adjust to life at the Training School and to identify goals, as well as preparing them for discharge and coordinating post-Training School placement in a community program and/or home. She states that her job involves working with adolescent females while they are incarcerated and she is not required to report to DCYF the misconduct of any juvenile which she may learn about while off duty, in the community. In her private capacity, the Petitioner represents that she also works part-time, outside of state hours, at Counseling Services of RI (“CSRI”) in East Providence. She states that she currently has a caseload of six (6) clients at CSRI consisting of two (2) adults and four (4) adolescents who have a DCYF connection. She represents that she sees clients at CSRI on weekdays before state work hours from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. or after state work hours from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and on Saturday mornings. She informs that she works a total of eight (8) to ten (10) hours per week at CSRI. She states that any DCYF-affiliated clients pay for services with their health insurance. She states that she will neither reveal any confidential information obtained during her public employment nor use any state equipment or resources for her private employment. She represents that she will not refer any discharged juvenile offenders to CSRI while she is employed there in her private capacity. The Petitioner represents that she presently takes the following actions to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. First, she states that she has not and will not participate in any activities, including counseling, assessments, paperwork or discussions, involving any female who is currently involved with DCYF’s Division of Juvenile Probation or who previously resided at the Training School. Second, she states that before accepting a male or a female juvenile client, not affiliated with DCYF’s Division of Juvenile Corrections or Probation, she informs the client and their parent or guardian of her position at the Training School. She also advises each client during intake that should they become incarcerated, she would have to withdraw from their treatment and she gives them the opportunity to request another counselor before commencing treatment. Finally, she informs each client that as a CSRI counselor she is obligated to provide treatment updates to their probation officer or to other state employees and obtains a signed release from the client’s parent or guardian to that effect. Under the Code of Ethics, a public official may not participate in any matter in which she has an interest, financial or otherwise, or engage in any employment that is in substantial conflict with the proper discharge of her duties or employment in the public interest. R.I. Gen. Laws § 36-14-5(a). A substantial conflict of interest exists if an official has reason to believe or expect that she, any person within her family, a business associate or an employer will derive a direct monetary gain or suffer a direct monetary loss by reason of her official activity. Section 36-14-7(a). Additionally, the Code prohibits a public official from using her public office or confidential information received through her public office to obtain financial gain for herself, her family, her business associate, or any person by which she is employed or whom she represents. Section 36-14-5(d). Finally, the Code of Ethics provides that a public official shall not accept other employment that would impair her independence of judgment as to her official duties or require or induce her to disclose confidential information acquired by her in the course of her official duties. Section 36-14-5(b). The Commission has issued a number of analogous advisory opinions in which it has given approval for Department of Corrections (“DOC”) employees to accept outside employment. Recently, the Commission opined in Advisory Opinion 2013-22 that a DOC Adult Probation Officer was not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from providing counseling services in his private capacity at Bridgemark Addiction Recovery Services (“Bridgemark”), based upon the assumption that the petitioner’s work as a Probation Officer did not require him to disclose to the DOC information about probationers and parolees that he may have learned while off duty. The Commission relied on the petitioner’s representations that he would not participate in any activities involving individuals currently in his DOC caseload, and that all such work was performed on his own time and without the use of public resources or confidential information obtained as part of his public employment. See also A.O. 2001-77 (opining that a DOC Probation and Parole Counselor could accept private employment facilitating domestic violence group sessions at the CODAC Treatment Centers, provided that she did not participate in activities at CODAC, including paperwork and/or discussion, where individuals in her DOC probation caseload were involved); A.O. 96-72 (opining that a DOC Probation and Parole Counselor could simultaneously work at Kent House as a counselor provided that he did not participate in any activities at Kent House, including paperwork or discussion, involving individuals in his DOC caseload). Contra A.O. 2006-8 (opining that a DOC Probation and Parole Supervisor was prohibited from accepting a part-time position to provide counseling and administrative services to a private counseling program where his subordinates referred probationers). In the present matter, the Petitioner is working part-time in her private capacity at CSRI. To avoid any conflicts with her public employment, the Petitioner represents that she has not and will not participate in any activities, including counseling, assessments, paperwork or discussions involving any female who is currently involved with DCYF’s Division of Juvenile Probation or who has previously resided at the Training School. She further represents that any potential juvenile clients are informed of her state position, advised that she cannot treat them if they become incarcerated and required to sign a release permitting her to file reports with their probation officer. She states that her private employment will occur on her own time, before or after her normal state work hours. She states that she will neither reveal any confidential information obtained during her public employment nor use any state equipment or resources for her private employment. She represents that she will not refer discharged juvenile offenders to CSRI while she is employed there in her private capacity. Given the above representations, it is the opinion of the Ethics Commission that the Petitioner is not prohibited by the Code of Ethics from providing counseling services in her private capacity at CSRI. This Advisory Opinion is strictly limited to the facts stated herein and relates only to the application of the Rhode Island Code of Ethics. Under the Code of Ethics, advisory opinions are based on the representations made by, or on behalf of, a public official or employee and are not adversarial or investigative proceedings. Finally, this Commission offers no opinion on the effect that any other statute, regulation, constitutional provision, or canon of professional ethics may have on this situation. Code Citations: § 36-14-5(a) § 36-14-5(b) § 36-14-5(d) § 36-14-7(a) Related Advisory Opinions: A.O. 2013-22 A.O. 2011-41 A.O. 2009-17 A.O. 2006-8 A.O. 2001-77 A.O. 96-72 Keywords: Private Employment