Minors in California Therapy: Who Consents, and Who Can See the Records
A Guide to Consent and Records When the Client Is a Minor
Two questions arrive together whenever a California therapist takes on an adolescent client. The first is who may agree to the treatment, and the second is who may later read what was written down. California answers them in different codes, but it answers the second one partly by reference to the first, so a change in the consent rule moves the records rule with it.
That link became more consequential on July 1, 2024, when the amended version of Family Code section 6924 took effect and a minor of 12 or older could consent to outpatient mental health treatment on a finding of maturity alone. Because records access for a parent turns in part on what the minor could consent to, a rule change that enlarged the consent category also enlarged the set of records a parent has no right to demand. A clinician trained before that date, working from the screen that used to apply, will get both halves wrong in the same direction.
This guide sets out the consent standard, what the statutes require to be documented, the circumstances in which a parent may and may not be given access, and the deadlines and fee limits that apply to any release.
The records deadlines described here begin when a request arrives rather than on a date set in advance. California Therapist Rules & Deadlines lists them with the rest of the deadlines a California practice works to.
This guide summarizes published statutes, regulations and agency guidance, and it is not legal advice. Anyone who needs to know how a rule applies to a particular practice should consult their own attorney. Rules verified as of September 20, 2026.
Can a 12-Year-Old Consent to Therapy in California?
Two statutes say yes on the same terms. Family Code section 6924(b) provides that "A minor who is 12 years of age or older may consent to mental health treatment or counseling on an outpatient basis, or to residential shelter services, if the minor, in the opinion of the attending professional person, is mature enough to participate intelligently in the outpatient services or residential shelter services." Health and Safety Code section 124260(b)(1) provides that "Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a minor who is 12 years of age or older may consent to mental health treatment or counseling services if, in the opinion of the attending professional person, the minor is mature enough to participate intelligently in the mental health treatment or counseling services."
The determination belongs to the treating clinician. Neither statute defines maturity, sets an instrument, or gives a checklist, and both phrase the test as an opinion formed by the attending professional person about the minor's capacity to participate intelligently in the particular services.
Which section applies depends on who is providing the services. Section 124260 defines "professional person" by license type, and the list includes a marriage and family therapist, a clinical psychologist, a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed professional clinical counselor, and, working under supervision, an associate clinical social worker or social work intern, a person registered as an associate marriage and family therapist or an MFT trainee, and an associate professional clinical counselor or clinical counselor trainee. Section 6924 defines professional person to include a professional person as defined in section 124260, together with the chief administrator of the kinds of agency that section 6924 itself lists, so the two definitions overlap at the point that matters for a clinician in practice. The consent standard is the same in both sections.
Both sections set the same outer limits. Neither authorizes a minor to receive convulsive therapy or psychosurgery as defined in the Welfare and Institutions Code, or psychotropic drugs, without the consent of the minor's parent or guardian. And both address payment: the minor's parents or guardian are not liable for payment for services provided under the section unless the parent or guardian participates in the treatment, and then only for services rendered with that participation.
What Changed When AB 665 Took Effect?
Before the amendment, the two statutes did not match. The Legislative Counsel's Digest for AB 665 describes the position it changed: existing law authorized a minor of 12 or older to consent "if the minor is mature enough to participate intelligently in the outpatient services or residential shelter services, as specified, and either the minor would present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or to others or if the minor is the alleged victim of incest or child abuse," while for other purposes the same minor could consent on maturity alone.
The Digest states that the bill "would align the existing laws by removing the additional requirement that, in order to consent to mental health treatment or counseling on an outpatient basis, or to residential shelter services, the minor must present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or to others, or be the alleged victim of incest or child abuse." The amended section 6924 became operative on July 1, 2024 by its own provisions.
The bill made a second change that is easy to miss and affects daily documentation. It required the professional person to consult with the minor before determining whether parental involvement would be inappropriate, aligning section 6924 with the language already in section 124260. The determination remains the professional person's, and the amendment puts a step in front of it.
The practical effect of the first change reaches further than the consent question alone. The removed condition operated as a screen, so treatment that did not meet it sat outside the consent provision and a parent retained the ordinary records rights of a representative. With the screen gone, treatment that meets the maturity test falls inside the consent provision, and the records consequence in section 123115 follows from that.
What Must Be Documented About Parental Involvement?
Both statutes make involvement the default and documentation mandatory. Section 124260(c) provides that treatment under the section "shall include involvement of the minor's parent or guardian, unless the professional person who is treating or counseling the minor, after consulting with the minor, determines that the involvement would be inappropriate." Section 6924(d) says the same.
The documentation sentence is the operative one, and both sections carry it in identical terms. The professional person "shall state in the client record whether and when the person attempted to contact the minor's parent or guardian, and whether the attempt to contact was successful or unsuccessful, or the reason why, in the professional person's opinion, it would be inappropriate to contact the minor's parent or guardian."
The sentence asks for whether contact was attempted, when it was attempted and what came of it, or in the alternative the reason contact would be inappropriate. A record that says only that the minor consented does not meet it.
Supervised clinicians carry an additional duty. Section 124260(b)(2) requires a marriage and family therapist trainee, clinical counselor trainee, psychology trainee or social work intern to notify their supervisor, or an on-call supervisor if the supervisor is unavailable, within 24 hours of treating or counseling a minor under the section. Where the trainee or intern believes on initial assessment that the minor is a danger to self or others, the notification must be made immediately after the session rather than within 24 hours.
Can a Parent Demand to See the Records?
The starting point favors the parent. Family Code section 3025 provides that "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, access to records and information pertaining to a minor child, including, but not limited to, medical, dental, and school records, shall not be denied to a parent because that parent is not the child's custodial parent." Custody arrangements do not by themselves decide records access.
Health and Safety Code section 123115(a) then sets out three situations in which "The representative of a minor shall not be entitled to inspect or obtain copies of the minor's patient records, including clinical notes."
- Records the minor may inspect in their own right. Paragraph (1) excludes records "With respect to which the minor has a right of inspection under Section 123110." Section 123110 gives a minor patient a right to inspect records pertaining to health care of a type for which the minor is lawfully authorized to consent.
- A determination of detrimental effect. Paragraph (2) applies where the provider "determines that access to the patient records requested by the representative would have a detrimental effect on the provider's professional relationship with the minor patient or the minor's physical safety or psychological well-being." The same paragraph provides that the decision "shall not attach any liability to the provider, unless the decision is found to be in bad faith."
- Records of services the minor consented to. Paragraph (3) applies where records relate to services described in Family Code sections 6924 to 6930 or Health and Safety Code sections 121020 or 124260, "when obtained by a patient who has the mental capacity to provide consent and is at or above the minimum age for consenting to the service specified in the respective section."
The third exclusion is the one that moved with AB 665. It is keyed to the service rather than to the file, and it applies where the minor had capacity and was at or above the minimum age. A course of treatment a 14-year-old consented to under section 124260 sits in that category from the first session.
Section 123115(a) states the three circumstances and attaches no notice requirement to them, and the second of the three is a determination the section leaves with the provider, with liability attaching only on a finding of bad faith.
What Are the Deadlines and Costs for Releasing Records?
Where records are to be released, section 123110 sets the mechanics, and they are the same whether the requester is an adult patient, a minor patient entitled to inspect, or a representative who is entitled to access.
- Inspection, five working days. The provider "shall permit this inspection during business hours within five working days after receipt of the request." The person inspecting may be accompanied by one other person of their choosing.
- Copies, 15 days. On a request specifying the records to be copied, "The health care provider shall ensure that the copies are transmitted within 15 days after receiving the request." Where the records are maintained electronically and an electronic copy is requested, the provider supplies them in the electronic form and format requested if readily producible in it.
- Fees, capped. The fee may not exceed 25 cents per page for paper copies, or 50 cents per page for records copied from microfilm.
- Free copies for benefit claims, 30 days. Where a patient or their representative presents a written request and proof that the records are needed to support a claim or appeal regarding eligibility for a public benefit program, or specified immigration petitions, one copy of the relevant portion is provided at no charge and transmitted within 30 days.
- No withholding for an unpaid bill. The section "prohibits a health care provider from withholding patient records or summaries of patient records because of an unpaid bill for health care services."
Two further provisions bear on how a request is handled. The section does not preclude a provider from requiring reasonable verification of identity before permitting inspection or copying, "provided this requirement is not used oppressively or discriminatorily to frustrate or delay compliance." The section also provides that a health care provider of the kinds it describes "who willfully violates this chapter is guilty of unprofessional conduct," which puts the matter in front of the licensing board rather than only in front of a court.
When Can a Provider Refuse the Patient Themselves?
Section 123115(b) addresses a different situation from the parent case, and it is narrow. Where a provider "determines there is a substantial risk of significant adverse or detrimental consequences to a patient in seeing or receiving a copy of mental health records requested by the patient," the provider may decline to permit inspection or provide copies, subject to four conditions.
The provider must make a written record, included with the records requested, noting the date of the request and explaining the reason for refusing, "including a description of the specific adverse or detrimental consequences to the patient that the provider anticipates would occur if inspection or copying were permitted." The provider must permit inspection by, or provide copies to, a licensed physician and surgeon, licensed psychologist, licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed clinical social worker or licensed professional clinical counselor designated by the patient. The provider must inform the patient of the refusal and of the right to designate such a clinician. And the provider must indicate in the patient's mental health records whether the request was made under that paragraph.
The route is a redirection rather than a closure. The records go to a clinician of the patient's choosing, and that clinician is barred from permitting the patient to inspect or copy them.
What This Means for Your Practice
The maturity determination is a clinical judgment the statute assigns to the treating clinician, and it is the fact that decides who holds the consent and which records a representative may demand, so the moment it is made is the moment it is easiest to record accurately.
The parental contact documentation is a separate entry and a short one, and the statute names what it has to contain: whether contact was attempted, when it was attempted and what came of it, or in the alternative why contact would be inappropriate.
When a request for records arrives, the deadlines start on receipt rather than on a decision about whether to comply, so the five working days and the 15 days include whatever time is spent deciding. Where the answer is a refusal to a representative, section 123115 supplies the grounds, and where it is a refusal to the patient, section 123115(b) supplies both the grounds and the four steps that go with it.
A Closer Look at One Program: Sentio University's MFT Track
The following description of one specific MFT program is offered as a concrete example of how a program can prepare students for the legal and ethical demands of practice, not as a recommendation against evaluating other programs. Students should research multiple options and ask each one direct questions about how clinical skill is built and measured.
Sentio University, a nonprofit graduate school based in Los Angeles with a hybrid delivery model that serves students throughout California, offers a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy that meets the Board of Behavioral Sciences educational requirements for the LMFT. The program runs 20 months across 60 units at $1,120 per unit, with weekly online classes and one intensive in-person residency at the start of each semester, in cohorts capped at 24 students at a 4:1 student-to-faculty ratio. It is designed around deliberate practice methodology and is described in peer-reviewed work as the first graduate psychotherapy program to thoroughly integrate deliberate practice, with roughly half of nearly every class session dedicated to active skills training rather than lecture (Rousmaniere and Vaz, 2025, p. 2).
Work with adolescents and families is not a specialty bolted on at the end of the degree. The 2026-2027 Academic Catalog includes Human and Family Development (MFT546) alongside Ethical and Legal Issues (MFT542), and the curriculum covers couples and family models including Emotionally Focused Therapy and Internal Family Systems. Students begin seeing clients at the Sentio Counseling Center during practicum, which provides more than 400 hours of supervised clinical experience during the degree, so the conversation with a parent about what will and will not be shared is one students have under supervision rather than for the first time in practice.
Sentio is a small, newer institution, admits only applicants who are California residents or willing to relocate to California and who intend to license in California, and its alumni network is still developing. Prospective students weighing Sentio alongside larger or older programs should factor that into their decision. Learn more at the Sentio MFT program overview, the tuition and fees page, and the Sentio FAQ page.
Making Your Decision
Record the maturity determination and the parental contact entry at the time, in the words the statute uses, and treat them as two separate notes rather than one. Keep the three grounds in section 123115(a) somewhere you can reach when a parent asks, and keep the five-day and 15-day clocks in the same place, since they start on receipt. If you are still choosing a graduate program, ask how it teaches work with minors, whether students practice the conversation with a parent about confidentiality, and what supervision looks like the first time a records request arrives. Program websites describe clinical training in similar language regardless of what is actually happening in classrooms and supervision rooms. Ask every program you are seriously considering whether you can attend a live or online class session before enrolling, and ask to speak with current students and recent graduates about how supervision and skill development function in practice. Reputable programs should welcome the request. Hesitation or refusal is informative on its own. Trust what you see in a classroom over what you read in promotional copy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a 12-year-old consent to therapy in California without a parent?
Yes, on a maturity finding. Family Code section 6924 provides that a minor who is 12 years of age or older may consent to mental health treatment or counseling on an outpatient basis if the minor, in the opinion of the attending professional person, is mature enough to participate intelligently in the outpatient services. Health and Safety Code section 124260 states the same standard for treatment by a professional person as that section defines the term.
What did AB 665 change about minor consent?
The Legislative Counsel's Digest for AB 665 states that the bill removed the additional requirement that the minor present a danger of serious physical or mental harm to themselves or others, or be the alleged victim of incest or child abuse, in order to consent under Family Code section 6924. It also required the professional person to consult with the minor before determining whether parental involvement would be inappropriate. The amended section became operative on July 1, 2024.
What must be documented when a minor consents to therapy?
Both sections require that treatment include involvement of the minor's parent or guardian unless the professional person, after consulting with the minor, determines that involvement would be inappropriate. The professional person must state in the client record whether and when they attempted to contact the parent or guardian, whether the attempt was successful or unsuccessful, or the reason why contact would be inappropriate.
Can a parent see their child's therapy records in California?
Sometimes. Health and Safety Code section 123115(a) provides that the representative of a minor is not entitled to inspect or obtain copies of the minor's patient records, including clinical notes, where the minor has a right of inspection under section 123110, where the provider determines that access would have a detrimental effect, or where the records relate to services the minor lawfully consented to alone.
Can a non-custodial parent be refused access?
Not on that ground. Family Code section 3025 provides that access to records and information pertaining to a minor child, including medical, dental and school records, shall not be denied to a parent because that parent is not the child's custodial parent. Custody status and records access are separate questions.
How quickly must a therapist release client records in California?
Health and Safety Code section 123110 requires the provider to permit inspection during business hours within five working days after receipt of the request, and to ensure that copies are transmitted within 15 days after receiving a request for copies. Where records are requested to support a claim or appeal for a public benefit program or specified immigration petitions, the free copy must be transmitted within 30 days.
Can a therapist withhold records because the client has not paid?
No. Section 123110 states that the section prohibits a health care provider from withholding patient records or summaries of patient records because of an unpaid bill for health care services. The section also caps copying fees at 25 cents per page for paper copies and 50 cents per page for records copied from microfilm.
Can a therapist refuse to give mental health records to the client themselves?
Section 123115(b) allows it in narrow circumstances. Where the provider determines there is a substantial risk of significant adverse or detrimental consequences to the patient in seeing the records, the provider may decline, but must make a written record explaining the refusal and the specific consequences anticipated, provide the records to a licensed clinician the patient designates, inform the patient of that right, and note in the record that the request was made.
References
California Legislature. (2023). AB-665 Minors: consent to mental health services, Legislative Counsel Digest (Stats. 2023, Ch. 338). https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB665
California Legislature. (2026a). Family Code section 3025. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=FAM§ionNum=3025.
California Legislature. (2026b). Family Code section 6924. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=FAM§ionNum=6924.
California Legislature. (2026c). Health and Safety Code section 123110. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=123110.
California Legislature. (2026d). Health and Safety Code section 123115. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=123115.
California Legislature. (2026e). Health and Safety Code section 124260. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=HSC§ionNum=124260.
Rousmaniere, T., & Vaz, A. (2025). Sentio's clinic-to-classroom method: Bridging deliberate practice and clinical training. Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy. https://societyforpsychotherapy.org/sentios-clinic-to-classroom-methodbridging-deliberate-practice-and-clinical-training/
Sentio University. (2026). Academic catalog 2026-2027. https://sentio.org/academic-catalog-1
