Merrymount Children’s Centre Complaint Policy

POLICY:

All staff of Merrymount Children’s Centre will advocate for the best interests of the client and will reinforce the client’s right to be heard. At intake, and at every admission, every client will be informed of their rights and responsibilities as a client of the agency and will be informed of the opportunities and procedures that exist to express their viewpoints, concerns, and complaints. Merrymount Children’s Centre will strive to resolve client complaints promptly and fairly using established lines of communication.

PROCEDURE:

1.        Every client will be provided with an opportunity to express concerns or complaints either privately or in groups with other clients and either directly to their service coordinator, a staff member, Shift Leader, Coordinator or to the Program Manager.

2.        A request to resolve a specific concern or complaint may be made verbally or in writing, by the client directlyor by the parent/guardian or another person representing the client. This will include any individual affected by conditions or limitations on visiting or an individual affected by the suspension of visits toMerrymount.

3.        All complaints must be documented. Initial acknowledgments of the complaint must be completedwithin 24 hours. Immediate actions may be taken in response to complaints. An update on the complaint review will be provided to the person who made the complaint no later than fifteen days after the complaint isreceived and subsequently at intervals of no more than fifteen (15) days. This does not apply if the complaint was submitted anonymously.

4.        Written or verbal complaints that cannot be resolved at the staff level will be escalated to the Program Manager. Upon receipt of a complaint, staff will report the matter of concern to the Program Managerfor a complete review. Written or verbal complaints that cannot be resolved at the Program Manager level will be submitted to the Executive Director. A written report of the review will be prepared by the Program Manager and reported to the Executive Director. The Program Manager and the ExecutiveDirector will conduct a review of the complaint, and this will be shared with the client. This review will be completed within seven (7) calendar days of the request being made.

5.        If this does not resolve the issue to the client’s satisfaction, a further review may be requested of theExecutive Director. The Executive Director or designate will complete the review within fifteen(15) calendardays. The client will be informed in writing of the findings. If the complaint directly involves the ExecutiveDirector, the complaint will be brought to the Board of Directors via the Human Resources Manager.

6.        At any time, the client has the option to access either the Ombudsman of Ontario in Toronto or the Program Supervisor at the local office of the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (for the licensed residential program and other MOH funded programs) or the

Ministry of Education at childcare_ontario@ontario.ca or 1-877-510-5333 for the licensed childcare program.

7.          The client’s complaint and the subsequent actions taken in response to the complaint will be documented in the client’s file. For children in the licensed residential program a written summaryof each complaint made by the child, or a complaint made by someone else on behalf of the child will bedocumented in the child’s file, this will include the details of the complaint and the steps taken in response to the complaint.

8.          If a complaint involves a staff member and the violation of a child's rights the complaint will be documented in the staff's file including the complaint review and outcome of the review.

9.          All children in the residential program (licensed under the CYFSA) will have their rights and responsibilities and complaint procedures reviewed on a nightly basis. Parents/guardians of children inthe residential program will be advised of the complaint procedure during the intake interview and atadmission (no later than seven days after admission if not able to be advised at admission). 

10.    The children will be informed on a nightly basis of the process of making a complaint regardingtheir rights in language that they can understand. This will include informing the children that a status update on a complaint review will be provided to the person who made the complaint within fifteen(15) days. If it determined during a complaint review that there has been a violation of the rights of a childin the licensed residential program the Program Manager and Executive Director will determine whetherthere are any measures that could be implemented to prevent the same violation from recurring and implement these measures.

11.    Debriefing: After a complaint has been reviewed according to the above complaint procedure the Program Manager and Executive Director will ensure that a debriefing is conducted. A debriefing mustbe conducted with the persons to whom the complaint relates, in the absence of any children. A second debriefing must be conducted with the child who made, or who is the subject of the complaint, in the absence of the persons to whom the complaint relates. If requested by the child, this debriefing shall also include an adult identified by the child as a support person. A third debriefing process will be offered to be conducted with any children who witnessed any conduct that gave rise to the complaint and will be conducted if any such children wish to participate in the debriefing process.

The debriefing processes will be structured to accommodate each child’s psychological, communication, emotional needs, and cognitive capacity, and be focused on understanding theexperiences of the child that led to the complaint being made as well as what Merrymount can do to better meet the needs of the child.

The debriefing will be conducted within seven (7) days after the complaint has been reviewed. If circumstances do not permit the debriefing process to take place within seven days after the complainthas been reviewed, the debriefing process will be conducted as soon as possible after the seven-day period. The circumstances which prevented the debriefing process from being conducted within the seven-day period will be documented.

The date and time of each debriefing, the names and if applicable titles of each person involved in each debriefing session and the duration of each debriefing session will be documented. The name ofeach child for whom a debriefing was offered and who indicated that they did not wish to participate in the debriefing process will be documented.

A description of the efforts made to conduct the required debriefing processes including the names of the person who made these efforts will be documented. 

12.  The Program Manager for the licensed residential program will, on or before, the fifth day of each month, prepare for the previous month a written analysis of every complaint received pursuant to the complaint procedure. This analysis will include the results of the review to determine whether any changes are required to the manner in which Merrymount respects the rights of the children when providing service. This report will be provided to the Executive Director. This written analysis will also be provided to MCCSS through documentation on SOR-RL each month. 

13.  A Complaints Tracking form will be completed in order to track trends in types of complaints, responses,and length of time to resolution. Summary reports will be provided to the Management Team on a quarterly basis, and to the Board of Directors on an annual basis.

14.   The Management Team will conduct a review to evaluate Merrymount’s complaint procedure at leastonce every twelve months to assess the effectiveness of the written complaint procedure and the need forany changes to the procedures to improve their effectiveness. A written evaluation of this review will be provided to the Executive Director.