(1) A youth care center may not interfere with the good faith disclosure of information by an employee or a volunteer concerning the abuse or mistreatment of a youth in the care of the center, violations of licensing or certification requirements, criminal activity at the youth care center, violations of state or federal laws or any practice that threatens the health and safety of a youth in the care of the center to:

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(a) The Oregon Youth Authority, a law enforcement agency or other entity with legal or regulatory authority over the care center; or

(b) A family member, guardian or other person who is acting on behalf of the youth.

(2) A care center interferes with the disclosure of the information described in subsection (1) of this section by:

(a) Asking or requiring the employee or volunteer to sign a nondisclosure or similar agreement prohibiting the employee or volunteer from disclosing the information;

(b) Training an employee or volunteer not to disclose the information; or

(c) Taking actions or communicating to the employee or volunteer that the employee or volunteer may not disclose the information.

(3) The authority may revoke or suspend the approval of a care center that is found to have violated subsection (1) of this section.

(4) This section does not authorize the disclosure of:

(a) Protected health information, as defined in ORS § 192.556, other than as is permitted by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy regulations, 45 C.F.R. parts 160 and 164, ORS § 192.553 to 192.581 or by other state or federal laws limiting the disclosure of health information; or

(b) Information protected under ORS § 419A.255 and 419A.257. [2019 c.381 § 16]