9.1 Parental Complaint Process

Lead Agencies must maintain a record of substantiated parental complaints against child care providers and make information regarding such complaints available to the public on request. Lead Agencies must also provide a detailed description of the hotline or similar reporting process for parents to submit complaints about child care providers; the process for substantiating complaints; the manner in which the Lead Agency maintains a record of substantiated parental complaints; and ways that the Lead Agency makes information on such parental complaints available to the public on request. Lead Agencies are not required to limit the complaint process to parents. 9.1.1 Parental complaint process a. Describe the Lead Agency’s hotline or similar reporting process through which parents can submit complaints about child care providers, including a link if it is a Web-based process: The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) maintains a complaint hotline - (202) 727-2993 - for parents to report issues with child care providers. Complaints can also be emailed to OSSE.ChildcareComplaints@dc.gov or faxed to OSSE at (202) 727-7295. Information about how to submit a complaint is available on the OSSE website at: https://osse.dc.gov/service/early-learning-complaints-and-unusual-incident-reporting. b. Describe how the parental complaint process ensures broad access to services for families that speak languages other than English: My Child Care DC complies with the District Language Access Act of 2004 and related policy regulations and guidance, which requires coordination and support for interpretation, and translation in an individual’s preferred language. OSSE’s language access program includes translation services for the complaints process via website form and/or telephone with language line services. c. Describe how the parental complaint process ensures broad access to services for persons with disabilities: Families may contact OSSE in multiple modalities to report complaints, including in-person, via phone, and email. An assigned licensing specialist is on duty during typical business hours to provide in-person, email, and telephonic support. The OSSE’s headquarters is accessible and complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Additionally, the consumer education website, where the contact information is posted, is accessible and is Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act compliant. d. For complaints about providers, including CCDF providers and non-CCDF providers, does the Lead Agency have a process and timeline for screening, substantiating, and responding to complaints, including information about whether the process includes monitoring? [x] Yes. If yes, describe: Upon receiving a complaint regarding a licensed provider, including Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and non-CCDF providers, OSSE reviews the complaint to determine the level of severity. A Level I complaint is defined as a health or safety violation that requires the assistance of law enforcement, Child Protective Services (CPS), or an immediate OSSE response. A Level II complaint is defined as a health or safety violation that may pose a serious health risk to children. A Level III complaint is defined as a violation that does not pose a serious or immediate health risk to children. OSSE responds to Level I complaints within 24 hours, Level II complaints within two business days, and Level III complaints within three business days of the receipt of the complaint. Depending on the severity of the complaint, OSSE will initiate an investigation to monitor the facility and determine if the complaint is substantiated. A substantiated complaint is defined as a situation or incident that has been identified and verified as unsatisfactory or unacceptable based on the current child development facility regulations and/or provider agreements. If OSSE substantiates a complaint, OSSE will issue a statement of deficiencies or an enforcement action with a corrective action plan. The corrective action plan includes a monitoring component to ensure providers are taking action to comply with licensing regulations. OSSE uses the same process regarding screening, substantiating, and responding to complaints from CCDF and non- CCDF providers. Upon receiving a complaint regarding an in-home provider (the District’s CCDF license- exempt providers), OSSE will review the incident to determine the severity of the complaint. If the complaint poses possible child endangerment, the complaint will be reported to the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) for further investigation. If the complaint does not pose a risk to the immediate health and safety of the child, but a substantiated concern is identified, OSSE will issue a deficiency to the provider and follow up within 30 days to ensure the issue is remediated. Information about substantiated complaints for license-exempt providers is not made available to the public. [ ] No. e. For substantiated parental complaints, who maintains the record for CCDF and non-CCDF providers? OSSE maintains a record of all complaints, including parental complaints (both substantiated and unsubstantiated) about licensed child development facilities, including facilities receiving CCDF funding and non-CCDF funded facilities. Complaints are stored in the licensing database system. Substantiated complaint records are maintained for three years. OSSE implements a similar process for in-home license-exempt CCDF providers: All incoming complaints, including parental complaints (both substantiated and unsubstantiated), are recorded, assigned to the provider’s electronic file, and reviewed for specific action or follow-up. Any substantiated complaints for in-home license-exempt CCDF providers are stored by OSSE under the provider’s profile and retained for at least three years. f. Describe how information about substantiated parental complaints is made available to the public; this information can include the consumer education website discussed in subsection 9.2: Substantiated complaints are made available to the public on the My Child Care DC website and are available via the Freedom of Information Act request procedures. OSSE does not share publicly information about substantiated parental complaints for in- home license-exempt providers.