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: Parents and other individuals can submit complaints by completing an online Child Care Complaint Form (https://mt.accessgov.com/dphhs/Forms/Page/dphhs- ecfs/childcarecomplaint/) or by calling the main Child Care Licensing office at (406) 444- 2012. Parents may also report concerns by calling the Child Abuse & Neglect Hotline at (866) 820-5437. Complaints made to the Child Abuse & Neglect Hotline are forwarded to licensing by the intake specialist. b. Describe how the parental complaint process ensures broad access to services for families that speak languages other than English: In addition to English, the website is available in many other languages using the Google Translate feature in the top right-hand corner of the website c. Describe how the parental complaint process ensures broad access to services for persons with disabilities: The website, per state regulations, is ADA compliant per Federal Section 508, Accessibility Requirements. All local documents including Child Care Licensing forms are ADA 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: An online complaint process is available by visiting the Child Care Complaint website. Lead Agency licensors are assigned to submitted complaints based on geographic area. Complaints are screened by the childcare licensor assigned to the case. An investigation is initiated when a complaint is determined to be licensing-related, and the information received has been assessed by Child Care Licensing to determine potential violations of licensing rules. The licensor conducts an inspection within seven days of receiving the complaint. A complaint investigation is substantiated (validated) when the licensing worker has enough information to determine that the complaint allegations occurred, or are occurring, or that a regulation violation occurred during the investigation. The complaint process is the same for all licensed facilities. The Lead Agency Child Care Licensing Program has limited authority to investigate un-licensed providers except for determining if the facility requires licensure according to statute. If a complaint alleges a provider is operating illegally, Child Care Licensing may determine if the provider requires licensure per statute. After the initial visit to determine any violations, there may be additional monitoring needed. This monitoring may include a Support Plan in which both the licensors and our contracting agencies will monitor the progress of the provider to make necessary changes. Monitoring also may consist of just one follow up visit to ensure that needed changes have been implemented. It depends on the risk level of the violation and what is needed to make lasting change. [ ] No. e. For substantiated parental complaints, who maintains the record for CCDF and non-CCDF providers? The information available in the Lead Agency’s database is maintained permanently. The information available on the public portal supplies inspection information for the last three years. A copy of the inspections and any attached correspondence are maintained in electronic facility files. Information kept in hard files are maintained until it meets the five-year retention schedule. This is the same for CCDF and non-CCDF records. 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: Inspection reports for complaint investigations resulting in a reportable deficiency are available on the Lead Agency’s Child Care Licensing Webpage. The information available on the website includes inspection information for the previous three-year period. If a complaint is not substantiated, its information is not available to the public.