CONSENT
In most cases, parents must consent to health care on behalf of their minor children. However, there are situations in which minors must or may consent for their own care and opportunities in which other adults may consent to care on the minors’ behalf. The tools on this page summarize the rights of minors and third parties to consent to a minor’s health care in California.
CHARTS
Minor Consent and Confidentiality Laws: This chart summarizes all the situations in which a minor may consent on her own to health care in California and provides related information on confidentiality. (Current. Updated 2019)
California Minor Consent Laws – Mental Health: This chart summarizes all the situations in which a minor may consent on his own to behavioral and mental health care in California. (Current. Updated 2010)
California’s Minor Consent Mental Health Laws: A Side by Side Comparison: California has two different statutes that authorize minors to consent to mental health care under certain conditions. This document compares the two. (Current. Updated 2016)
California’s Minor Consent Substance Use Disorder Treatment Law: Frequently Asked Questions about Family Code 6929: This document answers a few common questions about Family Code 6929, the California law that allows certain minors to consent to substance use disorder treatment.
FORMS
California Caregiver Affidavit: Downloadable affidavit form to authorize enrollment of a minor in school and school-related care.
TOOLS
Frequently Asked Questions: Using the California Caregiver Affidavit as a Non-Relative or Relative “Sponsor” of Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth: This document provides an overview of California’s Caregiver Authorization Affidavit and how it may be used by non-relative and relative “sponsors” of unaccompanied immigrant youth to consent to certain kinds of medical care and school enrollment.
Minor Consent, Confidentiality, and Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse in California: This document provides an overview of the pertinent federal and state medical consent, confidentiality and child abuse reporting laws that apply when adolescents seek health care services on their own from health providers in California. (Current. Updated 2016)
Understanding Confidentiality and Minor Consent in California: This adolescent provider toolkit, created by the Adolescent Health Working Group, includes legal information from the National Center for Youth Law and many tools created by providers and youth to help explain and use these rules in practice. (Current. Updated 2010)
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