Complaints or concerns with a
Child Care professional can be filed in our office.
If you have an issue that you would like to share with our staff, please
contact 1-888-527-8680(toll free) or 785(243-9345).
All calls will be kept confidential.
Please make yourself aware of the following policy and complaint
procedure that we utilize in our office to make sure that each issue is handled
to the best of our ability.
1)
When a parent or community member calls with a complaint about a
professional, we use reflective listening techniques to assure the caller we
understand and are available to help.
2)
A complaint form needs to be filled out each time a complaint is
made. It is critical that we collect
all information on the form, especially the date, and action plan.
3)
Complaints can be “Regulatory”, “Developmental”,
“Quality”, or “Business Practice”. All
“Regulatory” complaints are immediately forwarded to the licensing agent for
that county. Action plans could
consist of follow-up with the licensing agent.
Categories of complaints are addressed as follows:
a.
Regulatory – anything that should be addressed through Kansas
Child Care Licensing Law and Regulations and handled by the local licensing
agent.
b.
Developmental – anything that can be addressed by making sure
parties are aware of what children are “typically” capable of
developmentally.
c.
Quality – anything that deals with best practices above and
beyond the level addressed by licensing. This includes environment, parent
relations, curriculum, activities, scheduling, etc.
d.
Business Practice – anything that deals with the way in which a
professional runs his or her business including but not limited to billing, sick
leave, professionalism, etc.
4)
All callers have the right to remain anonymous.
Callers will be encouraged to give their name and number in case they are
needed for additional information. Remember
that all names and information shared will be kept confidential.
5)
Open communication between the parent and the professional will be
encouraged at all times. The
relationship between the family and the Child Care professional will be
respected above all else. We can supply the parent or the provider with
information or resources they need to make an educated statement.
This is often (but not always) the best course of action.
6)
We will ask the parent if they wish for us to contact the provider
on their behalf if they have reached an impasse.
We are an impartial third party who is helping to find the “3rd
Alternative” and create a “win-win” situation.
7)
Because we live in a small area, some parents may not want us to
contact the provider, but wanted to make sure we were aware of a situation.
In these cases, we might make plans to put an article in the newsletter
addressing the issue with everyone (i.e. “My daycare provider made my child
sit in time out today for most of the day.” We could write a newsletter
article on guidance techniques or proper use of time out.)
8)
We believe that the parent should be involved in helping us create
an action plan to address the issue, if they are uncomfortable in this role,
they can be eliminated from the process once the initial complaint is made.
9)
We always follow up with the situation within 30 days of the
initial call to determine if addition assistance, education, or support are
needed. This follow-up may be done with the provider directly depending on the
course followed through the action plan.
10)
If you feel that you have made a complaint through our office that
was not handled properly, or you feel you were not treated respectfully, you may
call the Kansas Association of Resource and Referral Agencies at 1-877-678-2548
and report these issues.