CRS Ethical Boundaries 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CRS working in a small rural community encounters a client at the only local grocery store regularly. The most ethical approach is to:
- Refuse to shop at the same store as clients
- Acknowledge the client only if the client initiates contact
- Discuss this reality openly with the client and plan in advance how to handle it (Correct answer)
- Terminate services to avoid repeated community contact
Correct answer: Discuss this reality openly with the client and plan in advance how to handle it
Proactively discussing unavoidable community contact with clients allows both parties to handle encounters in a way that preserves dignity and boundaries.
Question 2: The ethical obligation of 'fidelity' in recovery support services means:
- Maintaining accurate financial records for all services rendered
- Being loyal to your organization's mission above client needs
- Keeping promises, being honest, and honoring commitments to clients (Correct answer)
- Reporting all client disclosures to supervisors without exception
Correct answer: Keeping promises, being honest, and honoring commitments to clients
Fidelity involves being trustworthy, keeping commitments, and being truthful in all professional interactions with clients.
Question 3: Which scenario best illustrates the ethical principle of justice in recovery support?
- Providing the highest quality services only to clients with insurance
- Allocating recovery services equitably regardless of a client's background or resources (Correct answer)
- Prioritizing clients who show the most motivation for recovery
- Offering discounts to clients who refer new participants
Correct answer: Allocating recovery services equitably regardless of a client's background or resources
Justice requires fair and equitable distribution of services without discrimination based on financial status or background.
Question 4: A CRS disagrees with a supervisor's directive that seems to compromise client care. The most appropriate response is to:
- Follow the directive without comment to maintain employment
- Ignore the directive and continue preferred practice independently
- Express disagreement professionally and document the concern through proper channels (Correct answer)
- Immediately report the supervisor to licensing authorities
Correct answer: Express disagreement professionally and document the concern through proper channels
Voicing professional disagreement through legitimate channels allows for dialogue and creates a record without violating professional responsibilities.
Question 5: Informed consent in recovery support services must include:
- A guarantee of treatment success to motivate client engagement
- The nature of services, confidentiality limits, and client rights (Correct answer)
- Agreement that the client will not contact other providers
- The specialist's personal recovery history for transparency
Correct answer: The nature of services, confidentiality limits, and client rights
Valid informed consent requires that clients understand what services involve, the limits of confidentiality, and their rights as participants.
Question 6: When a client requests access to their own records, the CRS should generally:
- Deny the request to protect the client from potentially distressing content
- Provide access as permitted by law and agency policy, with appropriate support (Correct answer)
- Require the client to obtain a court order before reviewing records
- Share only the intake form and withhold session notes
Correct answer: Provide access as permitted by law and agency policy, with appropriate support
Clients generally have a legal right to access their own records under HIPAA, and the specialist should facilitate this with appropriate support.
Question 7: A CRS who holds personal moral objections to a client's lifestyle should:
- Refuse to provide services to clients whose lifestyles they find objectionable
- Attempt to change the client's lifestyle as part of the recovery process
- Set aside personal biases and provide professional services, or refer if unable to do so ethically (Correct answer)
- Disclose their objections to the client to maintain transparency
Correct answer: Set aside personal biases and provide professional services, or refer if unable to do so ethically
Professional ethics require that personal biases not impair services; if they cannot be managed, a referral to another provider is the ethical action.
CRS Ethical Boundaries 5
A CRS working in a small rural community encounters a client at the only local grocery store regularly.
The most ethical approach is to: