U.S. Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia has introduced legislation that would give colleges greater latitude to share students' mental health records, responding to recommendations made by a panel that investigated the Virginia Tech shootings.

Webb's bill would allow schools to share treatment records with authorities in cases where a student poses a threat to himself or others. Webb introduced the bill today, the day before the anniversary of the campus shootings that left 32 Tech students and faculty members slain. Gunman Seung-Hui Cho, who also killed himself that day, had a history of behavioral problems, but privacy laws limited the amount of information that was available to university officials and law enforcement authorities about his mental illness.
 
"In the wake of the tragedy, two review panels found that misinterpretation of federal and state privacy laws stand as a barrier to responding to and addressing troubled students and reports of potential threats," Webb said in a statement released by his office. "It is important for Congress to ensure that we provide our school officials, administrators and counselors clear federal guidelines to both protect the privacy and ensure the safety of our students."

Webb's bill would amend the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) to clarify how the law applies to treatment records at college clinics. The legislation creates a "safe harbor" protection to ensure that schools would not violate the law by sharing treatment records with a "good faith belief" that the disclosure would protect the safety of the student or others. The bill also makes clear that on-campus clinics can share student records with off-campus health providers. Virginia Sen. John Warner signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill this afternoon.

A panel appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine cited privacy laws as a barrier in addressing Cho's behavioral problems, concluding that the laws "need amendment and clarification."

"The first major problem is the lack of understanding about the law," the panel wrote in its report. "The next problem is inconsistent use of discretion under the laws. Information privacy laws cannot help students if the law allows sharing but agency policy or practice forbids sharing."

The panel recommended the inclusion of a "safe harbor" provision in FERPA and called for explicit exceptions for treatment records. It also called for greater flexibility to allow for disclosures in an emergency.

Virginia lawmakers also have taken steps to eliminate barriers that restrict sharing of student health records. Kaine last month signed legislation requiring state colleges to notify a parent of a dependent student who receives treatment at a campus health or counseling center if there is a "substantial likelihood" that the student will harm himself or others in the near future. Cho's parents told Kaine's Virginia Tech Review Panel that they would have helped their son get treatment if they had been informed of his behavioral problems at college.