complaints

[Anonymous]

In the state I am from.. we have a law in  place that allows parents to check with the licensing department to read up on complaints in a school or childcare facility.  Does anyone know the complaint process for your state .. in dealing with complaints?

The law we have in place allows a perspective parent to view sustantiated or unsubstantiated allegations against a school or person.  The information they obtain is confidential and held between the perspective parent & licensing department.  The law was passed when a child died and the parent did not know the background of the facility workers.. that had many UNSUBSTANCIATED.. allegations of abuse.  A child died needlessly at the hands of his abusers.  I am gathering information on how the complaint process works for each state can you help..

[hanzomon4]

This is great guest do keep us posted, I'm working on something related.... One of the big hurdles with making complaints is who do you complain to when the facility is unlicensed? Some programs purposefully move to states with slack to no oversight. It may pay to file complaints with the government agency that should have oversight....

[Deborah]

In the state I am from.. we have a law in  place that allows parents to check with the licensing department to read up on complaints in a school or childcare facility.  Does anyone know the complaint process for your state .. in dealing with complaints?

The law we have in place allows a perspective parent to view sustantiated or unsubstantiated allegations against a school or person.  The information they obtain is confidential and held between the perspective parent & licensing department.  The law was passed when a child died and the parent did not know the background of the facility workers.. that had many UNSUBSTANCIATED.. allegations of abuse.  A child died needlessly at the hands of his abusers.  I am gathering information on how the complaint process works for each state can you help..

Any particular state?
I'm not aware of consumer complaints being made available to the public. Some states do post results of inspections, any violations that were cited, and what they were.
Some states post everything online- list of licensed programs, a copy of the regulations, results of inspections and any violations cited. Some post nothing. Depends on the state. But, either way you can request the information from licensing.

If the complaint is 'abuse', and the program is licensed, the licensing division will investigate. If the program is not licensed, they will refer you to CPS, because the program is not under their jurisdiction.

If the program is operating illegally without a license, you can complain and request that they review the services provided to determine if licensure should be required. (Been there, done that) It can be an arduous process.
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 416#256416

This site is a good resource for finding licensing agencies:
http://www.lingledirectory.org/StateLicensing.aspx#MO

There is almost always a link for filing a complaint.
Example. This is Ga's Office of Regulatory Agency's Consumer page.
http://ors.dhr.georgia.gov/portal/site/ ... 01010aRCRD
If that link doesn't work, go here http://ors.dhr.georgia.gov/portal/site/DHR-ORS/   and select "For Consumers"
You can file a complaint, read the regulations, view Compliance Reports, find a licensed program, etc.
If not, just click "Contact Us".

Same with Tx
http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Care/ ... efault.asp
Utah
http://www.hslic.utah.gov/index.htm#

Some states make it difficult, can't access all that info from the same page. Some provide NO info.

It would be useful to compile a list of links to this info, particularly if they aren't all accessible from one page. I think it should include links to
Regulations
Where to find licensed programs
Where to review online Compliance Reports (Citation of violations)
Where, How, to file a Complaint



You can file a complaint with the BBB. If they aren't listed, you might request that the BBB add them.
More on that discussion here:
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 329#261329

From that thread:
http://search.bbb.org/Results.aspx?n=Te ... &c=&st=&z=
Notice how many of the TC programs aren't members.
And this individual program report.
http://www.wcohio.bbb.org/nis/newsearch ... 0008003323

[Deborah]

And look at this one.
http://data.bbblondon.on.ca/commonreport.html?bid=11545

This company is in an industry that may require licensing, bonding or registration in order to lawfully do business. The Bureau encourages you to check with the appropriate agency to be certain any requirements are currently being met.

These agencies may include:

CANADA REVENUE AGENCY
451 Talbot Street
London, ON N6A 5E5
(800) 267-6999
www.cra-arc.gc.ca

The BBB has the following licensing information on file for this company:
License Number: 10806 6663 RR0001
Type: Registered Charity Number
~~

This program probably have a religous/'faith based' exemption. But for those that don't, they should also list the licensing agency for residential treatment facilities.

[exhausted]

That's great if you can go ahead Guest

Bear in mind though, that most of these complaints procedures are as good as a warranty on a car, basically they say they'l lok into it and they do, then tell you they are using your complaint to improve their services, trust me, i've been there so many times!

I hope you manage to get somewhere though and it may draw some sort of attention, perhaps once the complaint is seen through, you can talk to the papers about why you felt the need to complain? Just to draw more attention to it and make sure it isn't kept behind closed doors