Page 30

Volume III | Chapter 1

1052 MISSISSIPPI

[GENERAL: CONFIDENTIALITY] Revised 02-01-17

PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF CONFIDENTIALITY This Agency and the other agencies and entities with whom electronic data is exchanged are bound by the same Federal and State laws which require confidential handling of all client data. Unauthorized use and disclosure of client information is punishable by law at the Federal and State levels. Disciplinary action will be taken against any agency employee violating the regulations pertaining to the safeguarding of information in accordance with the disciplinary policies and procedures of the Mississippi Department of Human Services and/or the State Personnel Board. A willful violation of this regulation will be termed inefficiency in office and the employee may be suspended or removed. In addition, State statutes specify that such acts can be considered as misdemeanors and upon conviction an individual may be fined or imprisoned or both. The specific details of these penalties are located in Sections 43-1-19, 43-15-21, 43-17-7 and 43-19- 45 of the State law. If the representative of an agency or organization to whom information has been disclosed violates the regulations, the MDHS Executive Director, after conducting an investigation, will report the employee or representative to the head of the agency involved. Mississippi Department of Human Services will provide all employees of the State and County DHS offices with a copy of the rules and regulations governing the safeguarding of information, including a statement regarding the penalty for any use of such information in violation of the regulations. MDHS will also make available copies for distribution to all agencies and individuals who are interested. MDHS-EA-105, Confidential Information Agreement, will be completed at the initial training of current and new employees, security personnel, volunteers and others who are assigned tasks in the offices of the Division of Field Operations and other persons at any location who are assigned access to the computer systems. Also, the MDHS-FO-106, Employee Awareness/Security Training, must be completed upon entry of new employees and annually thereafter to acknowledge training and awareness of security guidelines for IEVS data, civil rights compliance, SSA data, and National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) data.