Text Message Consent — Path Forward Care Platform

Path Forward Care Program collects consent to receive text messages through two channels: a client’s own account settings in our client portal, or a member of our staff recording consent given verbally during scheduling. Neither path bundles text consent into general treatment paperwork, and neither makes texting a condition of receiving care.

1Client portal — self opt-in

Every client with a portal account can turn text messages on or off from Settings → Notifications. The exact language shown there is:

Send me text messages

Optional — not required to receive care. If checked, we may text this number with appointment reminders, scheduling notices, and account updates. Message frequency varies; message and data rates may apply. Uncheck this anytime, or reply STOP to any text, to stop.

This checkbox is unchecked by default for every account. A client who never checks it, or who unchecks it later, continues to receive appointment reminders and notices by phone call or email instead — nothing about their care changes.

2Verbal consent during scheduling

When a client tells our staff by phone that they’d like text reminders — most often while scheduling — staff record that consent on the client’s record using the same language shown above, presented as:

Client has consented to text messages

Required before any text can be sent — the client opted in through the portal, on intake paperwork, or verbally during scheduling.

No text message can be sent to a client until one of these two consent records exists — our system technically blocks it either way, regardless of any other notification preference on file.

3Withdrawing consent

A client can withdraw consent at any time — by replying STOP to any text, unchecking the box in their portal settings, or telling staff. Withdrawing consent never affects treatment services; we simply reach them by phone or email afterward instead. See our Terms of Service for the full messaging program disclosures.