Except in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law, any employee or former employee of the Department shall not divulge any information acquired by him in the performance of his duties with respect to the income or grant eligibility of any caregiver submitted pursuant to this chapter. The provisions of this section shall not be applicable to (i) acts performed or words spoken or published in the line of duty under law; (ii) inquiries and investigations to obtain information as to the implementation of this chapter by a duly constituted committee of the General Assembly, or when such inquiry or investigation is relevant to its study, provided that any such information shall be privileged; or (iii) the publication of statistics so classified as to prevent the identification of particular caregivers.
1999, cc. 737, 763, § 63.1-335; 2002, c. 747.