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 Child Care Complaint Hotline is operated by lead agency child care assistance unit that is responsible for family eligibility, provider applications and provider payments. The toll- free phone number (1-866-448-4605) is a recognizable number for families as it is the same number they call for CCA information. b. Describe how the parental complaint process ensures broad access to services for families that speak languages other than English: The Lead Agency has staff that speak Spanish as well as access to a language line. According to the Iowa Data Center 95.5% of Iowa families speak English and/or Spanish at home, with English only speakers over 91%. c. Describe how the parental complaint process ensures broad access to services for persons with disabilities: When parents want to submit a complaint they do not need to fill out an online form or enter any information on their own. They are able to call a hotline where a trained staff member of the lead agency will ask all the needed questions to fill out the information to submit a complaint in our regulatory IT system. If an individual has a hearing impairment the lead agency has a service called Relay Iowa TTY that provides accessibility assistance to individuals that are deaf, hard of hearing, deaf-blind or have difficulty speaking. 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: The person answering the Child Care Complaint Hotline enters complaint information on all types of child care providers (licensed and license-exempt) into the Child Care Regulatory Information System (CRIS) and all complaints entered are recorded. The complaint form specifically asks whether the complainant is a parent to a child in care at the facility and we are able to access data to identify trends in reporting. The identity of who reported the complaint is not disclosed unless the complainant has waived anonymity. The complaint is sent to the supervisor that oversees the provider type (licensed center or child care home). The supervisor reviews all allegations and determine whether if true, the complaint would result in a regulatory violation. If so, the complaint is assigned to a compliance or licensing worker to evaluate. If there is a concern of abuse or neglect, this information is further reported to the Iowa Child Abuse Hotline and a joint investigation may occur if the concern rises to the level of a child protective services assessment. Child abuse assessment information is not considered a part of the public file. Upon evaluation of the concern, a report is written outlining the alleged violation and whether a violation was found. A supervisor then reviews and approves the report. The target timeframe for the department’s issuance of the report concerning an inspection or other regulatory visit to a child care facility is sixty calendar days. Once the report is complete, incidents in which there was a violation found are located at: https://secureapp.dhs.state.ia.us/dhs_titan_public/ChildCare/ComplianceReport. Parents are made aware of the compliance and complaint reports through the Lead Agency's website, consumer statement and the CCR&R website. Complaints are maintained in the program's individual file and records are kept for a minimum of 5 years after a file is closed. Child care centers are required to post a notice that includes the name, office mailing address and telephone number of the child care licensing consultant for their center. In Iowa an unregistered non-CCDF provider may legally operate in their home with 6 or less children in care. If the concern for an unregistered non-CCDF provider is for overcapacity which would violate Iowa Code 237A, a letter is sent, advising that there is concern of overcapacity reported. This information is also submitted to the local County Attorney. If there is concern of abuse or neglect it is referred to the Iowa Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline. Other concerns will be denied for evaluation as the Lead Agency does not have regulatory authority over unregistered, non-CCDF providers [ ] No. e. For substantiated parental complaints, who maintains the record for CCDF and non-CCDF providers? The Lead Agency 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: Once the complaint report is complete, incidents in which there was a violation found are located at: https://secureapp.dhs.state.ia.us/dhs_titan_public/ChildCare/ComplianceReport. Parents are made aware of the compliance and complaint reports through the Lead Agency's website, consumer statement and the CCR&R website. Complaints are maintained in the program's individual file and records are kept for a minimum of 5 years after a file is closed. Any complaint without a substantiated complaint is public record and may be requested, however these are not posted on the public facing webpage.