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 are able to call 211 or submit complaints via https://www.nh- connections.org/providers/child-care-licensing/ or https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs- services/childcare-parenting-childbirth/child-care-licensing The Child Care Licensing Unit will investigate concerns/complaints: -That are based upon first-hand knowledge or information reported directly by a child who has first-hand knowledge; -When there is sufficient specific information for the department to determine that the allegation(s), if proven to be true, would constitute a violation of any Child Care Licensing Rule or Law; -That involve an incident that occurred within the last 6 months; or -That involves an incident that occurred anytime if the complaint alleges physical injury or abuse, verbal or emotional abuse, or the danger of physical injury to one or more children. b. Describe how the parental complaint process ensures broad access to services for families that speak languages other than English: Parental complaints which require translation can be accessed at https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/minority-equity- services/communication-language-assistance. Also, https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs- services/childcare-parenting-childbirth/child-care-licensing which the website allows for a language change for the child care licensing website. The Child Care Licensing Unit will investigate concerns/complaints: -That are based upon first-hand knowledge or information reported directly by a child who has first-hand knowledge; -When there is sufficient specific information for the department to determine that the allegation(s), if proven to be true, would constitute a violation of any Child Care Licensing Rule or Law; -That involve an incident that occurred within the last 6 months; or -That involves an incident that occurred anytime if the complaint alleges physical injury or abuse, verbal or emotional abuse, or the danger of physical injury to one or more children. c. Describe how the parental complaint process ensures broad access to services for persons with disabilities: Parental complaints that require accommodations for persons with disabilities can be accessed at https://www.dhhs.nh.gov/programs-services/minority- equity-services/communication-language-assistance. This direct link will allow access for parents requiring accessibility by using the Toggle Userway. The Child Care Licensing Unit will investigate concerns/complaints: -That are based upon first-hand knowledge or information reported directly by a child who has first-hand knowledge; -When there is sufficient specific information for the department to determine that the allegation(s), if proven to be true, would constitute a violation of any Child Care Licensing Rule or Law; -That involve an incident that occurred within the last 6 months; or -That involves an incident that occurred anytime if the complaint alleges physical injury or abuse, verbal or emotional abuse, or the danger of physical injury to one or more children. 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 receipt of the complaint, an immediate review is completed by the CCLU. If deemed appropriate (see criteria below), an investigation is opened. The complaint needs to contain an allegation of non-compliance in accordance with He-C 4002 for licensed providers, or: He-C 6916 and; He-C 6917 for LE providers, or any provision of RSA 170-E, as follows: ￿Based upon first-hand knowledge or on information reported directly by a child who has first-hand knowledge; ￿When there is sufficient specific information for CCLU to determine that the allegation(s), if proven to be true, would constitute non-compliance of any Child Care Licensing Rule or Law; ￿That involve an incident that occurred within the last 6 months; or ￿ Involves an incident that occurred any time if the complaint alleges physical injury or abuse; verbal or emotional abuse; or the danger of physical injury to one or more children. For licensed providers, an unannounced monitoring visit is always preferable and conducted to verify compliance of allegations not easily verified through other means. A license exempt provider is subject to a visit if there is any complaint about the safety of the environment or the treatment of children. The visit is announced for license exempt providers Licensing coordinators are expected to do an inspection and complete the report within 14 days of the complaint intake, provided all information has been received to complete the investigation. This allows for supervisory review and issuance of findings within 30 days. Complaints that include other agencies, such as those with police involvement, may take additional time. Complaint visits are second only to pre-licensure inspections to open a new program; unless the complaint is deemed serious then the complaint will take priority over pre-licensure inspections. [ ] No. e. For substantiated parental complaints, who maintains the record for CCDF and non-CCDF providers? Complete records of substantiated complaints on both licensed and CCDF license-exempt providers are maintained with the program’s record while they are licensed or enrolled as a license-exempt CCDF provider, then up to four years after a program has ceased operating. After four years, the complete record of closed programs is purged from the system. CCLU maintains an in-house database which includes a history of founded complaint allegations for both licensed and CCDF license-exempt programs. 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: Per RSA 170-E:10, the findings of investigatory and monitoring visits, and final decisions relative to licensure of the child day care agency shall be considered public information, posted on the department's website, and available for review by members of the public. The findings of investigatory and monitoring visits and final decisions relative to licensure shall be posted on the department's website not less than 21 business days from the date of the finding or decision and shall be available on the website for a period of 3 years. https://new-hampshire.my.site.com/nhccis/NH_ChildCareSearch