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Effective date: June 9, 2026

Stewardly Connect — Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of Stewardly Connect (the "Community" or "Connect"), a professional community and clinician referral network operated by Stewardly LLC ("Stewardly," "we," "us," or "our") at stewardlyconnect.com. By creating an account or using Connect, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use Connect.

1. What Stewardly Connect Is

Stewardly Connect is a professional platform for behavioral health clinicians that combines two things: a peer community for professional discussion and support, and a clinician-to-clinician referral and matching network where members can refer clients to colleagues they choose or to clinicians that Stewardly's matching tools suggest, and can respond to referral cases.

Connect is a tool that helps clinicians find and reach one another. It is not itself a provider of clinical care, and it does not make referral or matching decisions for you. Where Stewardly's tools suggest a clinician for a referral, that suggestion is a starting point only. Every referral decision, including whether to send a referral, whom to send it to, and whether to accept one, is made by you in the exercise of your own professional judgment.

Connect is for use by behavioral health professionals. It is not a client-facing service. Clients, patients, and members of the public seeking care are not the intended users of Connect.

Connect is separate from the Stewardly clinical platform. Your use of the clinical platform is governed by its own terms and, where applicable, a Business Associate Agreement. These Terms apply only to Connect.

2. Eligibility and Verification

To use Connect, you must be at least 18 years old and a licensed behavioral health professional, a pre-licensed or associate clinician, or a graduate student in a behavioral health field. Certain features and channels, including consultation channels and the ability to send or receive referrals, may be limited to licensed clinicians.

You agree that the professional, credential, licensure, location, fee, and availability information you provide is accurate, that you will keep it current, and that you hold the licenses and authorizations you represent.

Where a member's licensure is shown as verified, Stewardly has confirmed, as of the date shown, that the license number the member provided matches an active license in the issuing jurisdiction's records. Verification is limited to licensure status as of that date. It is not a verification of competence, quality, fitness to practice, current standing, or disciplinary history, is not ongoing, and is not an endorsement or recommendation of any member. You remain responsible for evaluating any clinician before referring a client to them.

3. The Referral and Matching Network

When you send a referral, you provide a short, de-identified description of what the client is looking for, along with details such as urgency and modality. You may add a private label to help you track which of your own clients a referral concerns. That label is visible only to you, is not sent to the clinicians who receive the referral, and should not contain client-identifying information.

You may direct a referral to specific clinicians you choose, and Stewardly's matching tools may also suggest clinicians whose self-reported profile information, such as specialty, modality, location, and availability, appears relevant to the referral. Any suggestion is a starting point only. You decide whether to send a referral and to whom, and a clinician who receives a case decides whether to express interest. You then decide whether to match with or pass on any responding clinician.

Referral content is shared only with the limited number of clinicians a referral is sent to or matched with, which will not exceed five. It is not posted to any feed and is not visible to the Community generally.

You understand and agree that:

  • Stewardly's matching tools surface and suggest clinicians based on self-reported profile information. A suggestion is not a determination that a clinician is qualified, available, or a good fit for any client, and it is not an endorsement or recommendation.
  • Stewardly does not vet, endorse, certify, recommend, or guarantee any member's qualifications, competence, availability, fees, or suitability for any client, beyond the limited licensure verification described in Section 2. Provider profile information, including fees and modality, is self-reported by members.
  • You are solely responsible for evaluating any clinician before referring a client and for the clinical appropriateness of any referral you make or accept.
  • No member is obligated to accept any referral, and Stewardly does not guarantee that any referral will be accepted or that any case will be matched.
  • You remain responsible for the continuity and standard of care of your client until an appropriate transfer of care has occurred, consistent with your professional and ethical obligations.

4. Fees

Connect is currently provided free of charge. If we introduce a subscription or other fee in the future, we will provide notice before it takes effect. Any such fee will be a charge for access to Connect and will not be tied to whether you make or receive any referral.

The session fees shown on member profiles are each clinician's own rates for their services. They are informational only. Stewardly does not charge for referrals, does not receive any fee, commission, or other consideration tied to whether a referral is made, accepted, or results in a client engagement, and does not take any portion of any clinician's fee.

No member may offer, pay, solicit, or accept any fee, commission, kickback, rebate, or other consideration in exchange for a referral made or received through Connect. You are responsible for complying with all laws and professional rules governing referrals and fee arrangements, including anti-kickback and self-referral laws, state fee-splitting prohibitions, and the ethics code of your profession and licensing board.

5. Client Confidentiality and No Protected Health Information

This is the most important rule in Connect, and it applies to referrals, messages, the Relationships area, and all community channels.

Connect is not a medical record system and is not designed to receive, store, or safeguard protected health information (PHI). You may share only de-identified information, such as a brief description of what a client is seeking. You may not enter client names, initials, dates of birth, dates of service, addresses, contact information, medical record numbers, photographs, identifiable quotes, or any other information that identifies or could reasonably be used to identify a client. The same prohibition applies to information that would identify a colleague, supervisor, employer, or institution.

Before initiating any referral or sharing any client information, you are responsible for obtaining any client consent or authorization required by law and your ethics code, and for complying with the minimum necessary standard and all applicable confidentiality obligations. You acknowledge, with respect to each referral, that it contains no client-identifying information. Stewardly is not acting as your business associate within Connect, and you remain solely responsible for your obligations under HIPAA, state confidentiality law, and your professional ethics code with respect to anything you submit.

We may remove content that appears to contain identifying information, and we may suspend or terminate accounts that violate this section.

6. Community Conduct and House Rules

Connect's community channels operate on the norms of a trusted consult group. You agree to the house rules, which include the following and which we may update:

  1. No PHI or HIPAA-protected information, including client names, dates of service, locations, diagnoses tied to a person, or identifiable quotes.
  2. No naming or identifying colleagues, supervisors, employers, or institutions.
  3. Treat other members as colleagues and respond with the care you would offer in a consultation group.
  4. Keep posts relevant to the purpose of the channel.
  5. No spam, self-promotion, or solicitation of services.
  6. No discriminatory, harassing, or hostile language of any kind.

You also agree not to impersonate any person, misrepresent your credentials or affiliation, share another member's posts or identity outside Connect without consent, upload malware, scrape Connect, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to any account or system.

7. Member Content

You retain ownership of the content you post. By posting, you grant Stewardly a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, display, and distribute that content within Connect for the purpose of operating it. This license ends when you delete your content or your account, except for content others have already saved or quoted, or that we must retain to comply with law.

You are responsible for the content you post and represent that you have the right to post it. We are not obligated to monitor content, but we may review, moderate, remove, or restrict content at our discretion.

8. Stewardly Intellectual Property

Connect, including its design and features and the Stewardly name and marks, is owned by Stewardly LLC and protected by intellectual property law. These Terms do not grant you any right to use Stewardly's marks without prior written permission.

9. Suspension and Termination

You may stop using Connect and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms, if your continued participation poses a risk to the Community or to others, or if we discontinue Connect. Sections that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including those on referrals and matching, no referral fees, client confidentiality, member content, intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and indemnification.

10. Disclaimers

Connect is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Stewardly disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that Connect will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, that any member's profile information is accurate, that any matching suggestion is correct or suitable, or that any referral will be accepted, appropriate, or successful. Content shared by members reflects individual peer perspective, not clinical, legal, or professional advice from Stewardly, and nothing in Connect creates a supervisory, consultative, employment, or professional relationship between you and Stewardly. Connect is not a crisis service and is not monitored for emergencies. If you or someone else is in crisis, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line such as 988 in the United States.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Stewardly and its officers, members, employees, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, professional reputation, or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of Connect, any referral made or received, any matching suggestion, or any interaction with another member. Our total liability for any claim related to Connect will not exceed one hundred dollars ($100).

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Stewardly from any claims, damages, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of your content, your use of Connect, any referral you make or accept, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or the rights of another person, including any disclosure of client-identifying information, breach of client confidentiality, or violation of anti-kickback or fee-splitting rules.

13. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Dallas County, Texas, and you consent to the jurisdiction of those courts.

14. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will provide notice through Connect or by email. Your continued use after the changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms may be sent to customer-support@stewardlybh.com.