FERPA and HIPAA Records Access for Kinship Caregivers in Washington

Two Federal Laws, One Practical Problem

You enrolled your grandchild in school. You took them to the pediatrician. Everything seemed fine — until you tried to check grades online and the parent portal locked you out. Or the doctor's office said they couldn't share test results because you're not the "parent."

Washington kinship caregivers run into records-access barriers constantly, and the root cause is almost always the same: the school or medical provider doesn't understand how federal privacy law applies to relative caregivers. FERPA governs school records. HIPAA governs medical records. Access can be available through different mechanisms.

School Records: FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) gives "parents" the right to inspect and review their child's education records. That word "parents" is the sticking point — but it's broader than it sounds.

Under OSPI guidance, when you enroll a child using a Caregiver Authorization Form, Washington school districts treat you as the parent for FERPA purposes in day-to-day operations. That means you can:

• Access the parent portal to view grades, attendance, and assignments
• Receive report cards, progress reports, and truancy communications
• Review the child's cumulative academic file
• Sign field trip permission slips and emergency pickup authorizations
• Attend and participate in parent-teacher conferences
• Request records transfers from the child's previous school

The critical step: FERPA access follows the enrollment. If you enrolled the child, the district should have you listed as the authorized contact. If you're being denied access, the problem is usually a data entry issue — the school's system has the biological parent listed as the sole authorized user, and nobody updated it when you enrolled the child. Ask the registrar or enrollment office to update the student information system to reflect your caregiver status.

If the biological parent also has FERPA rights: Under FERPA, a non-custodial parent retains access to education records unless a court order specifically restricts it. This means both you and the parent may have simultaneous access rights. That's normal and doesn't diminish your access.

Special Education Records: WAC 392-172A

If the child receives special education services, records access runs through a parallel track. Under WAC 392-172A-01125, the definition of "Parent" for IDEA purposes includes a grandparent, stepparent, or other relative with whom the student lives. If the child physically resides with you and no biological or adoptive parent is exercising these rights, you may qualify; a parent who steps forward is generally presumed to hold primary authority unless a court restricts it.

This means you can:

• Review the child's entire special education file, including evaluations and IEP documents
• Receive Prior Written Notice of any proposed changes to the child's placement or services
• Request copies of evaluation reports, progress monitoring data, and IEP meeting notes

If a school's special education office says you need "legal custody" to access these records, cite WAC 392-172A-01125(1)(d) — it explicitly names relatives the student lives with.

Medical Records: HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the medical equivalent of FERPA, and your path to access is different.

Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule (45 CFR § 164.502(g)), any person authorized to consent to healthcare on behalf of a minor is that minor's personal representative — and a personal representative has the same right to access the minor's medical records as the minor (or a parent) would.

Here's the connection: your RCW 7.70.065 caregiver health declaration gives you statutory authority to consent to healthcare. That authority makes you a HIPAA personal representative for the care you authorized. A provider who accepted your declaration and treated the child must also give you access to records directly related to that care.

What you can access:

• Visit notes, lab results, and imaging reports from appointments where you consented to care
• Prescription records and medication histories
• Immunization records
• Dental treatment records
• Referral letters and specialist correspondence

What you may not be able to access: Records from care where a teenager exercised self-consent rights. Under RCW 71.34.530, minors aged 13 and older can consent to their own outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment, and providers generally may not share those records with caregivers without the minor's documented consent, subject to exceptions permitted by law. Similarly, records for STI care a minor 14 or older consented to under RCW 70.24.110 and reproductive health records are confidential.

Common Access Problems and Fixes

Problem: The pediatrician's office says they can only release records to a parent. Fix: Show them your RCW 7.70.065 declaration and explain that under HIPAA, an adult authorized to consent to a minor's healthcare is the minor's personal representative for records directly related to the care you authorized.

Problem: The school parent portal won't give you a login. Fix: Go to the enrollment office in person with your caregiver authorization form and ask them to add you as the authorized contact in their student information system.

Problem: You need records from before the child came to live with you — from the previous pediatrician or school. Fix: For school records, your current district should request academic transcripts directly from the prior school as part of the enrollment process. For medical records, submit a records request to the prior provider. The health declaration supports consent to care you authorize, but does not automatically give you access to records from earlier care; the provider may require a separate release from someone authorized to request those records.

Problem: The provider asks for a court order before releasing records. Fix: A court order is not required under HIPAA for a personal representative to access a minor's records. If the provider insists, ask for their HIPAA Privacy Officer and cite 45 CFR § 164.502(g).

The Washington Consent Guide for Kinship Caregivers walks through the records-access process for both school and medical settings, including the specific language to use when a provider or school requests documentation you don't have.

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