Project Respect
In an
effort to bring some consistency into the process of dealing with grievances
from foster parents at the local level, the following guidelines should be used
to develop a plan to resolve concerns that are brought to the county’s
attention by foster parents.
The process
utilizes various individuals and groups that can help the county and the foster
parents work through and resolve problems and conflicts. All of these will consider applicable policy
related to the problem. They will offer guidance to all parties through a
process in which they discuss the issues, options and design their own
agreement to resolve the dispute. The process
·
gives everyone an opportunity to be
heard;
·
affords everyone an opportunity to
develop new ways of dealing with problems;
·
affords opportunities to create
working solutions, and
·
can help to eliminate the time and
distress of unresolved conflict and possible placement disruption for children
in care.
The intent
of this process is not to remove authority from the local DHR offices to handle
problems within the county or to punish counties for any complaint filed by
foster parents. This process gives
foster parents and the local office an opportunity to be heard when problems
arise and when all parties cannot come to an agreement or acceptable resolution
to the problem.
General
Guidelines
1.
If you have questions regarding this process, call 334-242-9500 and ask
for the Office of Foster Care.
2. The
Project Respect State Grievance Committee as selected by the Commissioner of
DHR will include 2 county person(s) (County Director or supervisory level), 2
foster parent advocate(s) (with two designated alternates), and 2 state DHR/Office
of Foster Care staff.
3. The
entire process, from initial contact with the county office until a referral to
the Project Respect State Grievance Committee, should take no longer than 30
days. If the solution is ongoing and all
parties are satisfied with actions being taken, referral to the State Grievance
Committee should not be initiated.
4. Timely response
from the County DHR offices is crucial to the process. Failure to respond to complaints timely may
result in earlier referral of complaints to the State Grievance Committee.
5. Persons
appropriate to file complaints using this process include:
(a) Any
foster parent or related caregiver for a child in DHR custody.
(b) DHR
staff, including workers, supervisors or managers
Examples of possible problems/concerns are given in item # 7 of these General
Guidelines.
6. The guidelines specified here are not in effect if a report is considered urgent by the foster parent(s) including their concern that the safety of a child is being endangered by actions that are being taken or failure by the agency to take action. In these situations, the foster parent can make immediate contact with the individual(s) that he/she feels will provide timely response to the situation. This may include local or staff foster parent or staff liaisons, AFAPA regional representatives, SDHR personnel, etc.
7. Appropriate referrals would include, but are not limited
to
a. Problem
with communication between line worker and the foster parent – lack of
courtesy, partnership, respect, professionalism in communication such as
failing to return phone calls, failure to listen to concerns, etc.
b. Lack
of responsiveness to requests by the foster parent for assistance in dealing
with the children in care.
c. Removal
of children without due notice according to applicable policies and standards.
d. Issues
of potential safety risks to children.
e. Failure
to follow policies.
f.
Failure to arrange needed services for
the child/foster family.
g. Failure
to schedule an ISP as requested.
h. Situations
where the local foster parent association or SDHR staff have identified trends
in actions by the county that would be appropriate for grievance review, but
individual foster parents have not filed a grievance. (One example: SDHR Family Service consultant
staff note repeated instances of lack of partnership between staff and foster
parents. They may ask Project Respect to
review and make recommendations.)
i.
Closure of a foster family home by
DHR. (This process will serve as the appeal rights referred to in the Foster
Parent Bill of Rights Act for foster parents whose foster home is closed by
DHR. Therapeutic (or other) foster
parents whose homes are closed by therapeutic foster care providers or other
child placing agencies cannot use this process to appeal these closures).
j.
Failure to abide by the provisions of
the Foster Parent Bill of Rights.
Note: Having a pending CAN
investigation does not preclude a foster parent from filing a grievance on
issues unrelated to the CAN.
8. Inappropriate mediation
referrals would include, but are not limited to:
a. When
a court case is pending in regard to the situation.
b. When
a CA/N has been filed and the subject of the grievance is a part of the CA/N
investigation.
c. When
a foster parent does not agree with the permanency plan developed by the local
team.
d. Recommendations
related to personnel actions within the county office.
Note: The items listed in the
inappropriate mediation section do not preclude foster parents from making
contact with the Office of Foster Care or a SDHR consultant to discuss their
concerns.
9. The
foster parents must file a written complaint on the attached referral form. The
foster parent should send an original to the local Department and maintain a
copy for their personal files. This form
will also be the source of filing a complaint with the state committee if that
becomes necessary.
10. By implementation of these guidelines, foster parents
have the right to file complaints and discuss concerns with County Directors, the
foster parent liaison, the DHR staff liaison, supervisors, case workers, local
Project Respect or Foster Care Advisory Committees, AFAPA Regional
Representatives or the Project Respect State Grievance Committee without being
considered in violation of the rules of confidentiality. Care should always be taken to mention
only case situations, not case/children names. Care should
also be taken to avoid discussion with other individuals not listed above as
this would be considered a violation of the rules of confidentiality. (Note:
It is not a violation of confidentiality to provide the information
requested in the grievance process to the Office of Foster Care.)
11. Foster
parents should never feel alone in the process of filing a complaint and the
Department should be sure that every source of support for the foster parent is
arranged. Caution should be taken to
prevent this from becoming the agency vs. the foster parent. Foster
parents are partners in the planning for children and have every right to have
their opinions and concerns heard and have the right to be considered as a
valuable part of the ISP/treatment team. The foster parents
should have support from the DHR staff liaison, the foster parent liaison or
another foster parent selected by the local association, if requested, in
filing the complaint. The foster parents
can also call AFAPA at 1-888-545-2372 to request assistance.
12. Actions
taken by the Department when a complaint is filed shall never be retaliatory or
punitive in nature. No person who files
a grievance, complaint, or concern will be punished, discriminated against,
threatened, or retaliated against in any way for filing such action. When evidence proves that a staff member has
retaliated against a foster parent, that staff member is subject to
disciplinary action, according to applicable personnel policies and procedures.
13. Larger
County offices may have more supervisory levels to be considered in developing
a chain of command for handling of problems/concerns/issues. Each County office should use the information
contained in this document as a guideline in developing a local process that
will be effective and efficient in handling this matter.
14. The
Project Respect Grievance Committee will work with therapeutic providers and
private agency providers to assure that the process of addressing concerns is
not hindered.
15. If
the grievance is concerning an office within State DHR, the local DHR office or
the foster parent should send the initial complaint, to the appropriate
Division/Office at SDHR using the attached paperwork. If, within 30 days, there has been no
resolution to the problem, the paperwork can then be forwarded to the Office of
Foster Care as per the guidelines in this memo.
16. An
ISP meeting (which includes the foster parent with the grievance) may be
required at any point in the problem solving process to reach a resolution to
the complaint/concern.
17. This
process can be used by providers of care to children in DHR custody whether the
placement is in a regular or therapeutic foster home setting, related foster
care or related care. However, this
process is only to be used to resolve disputes between DHR and foster
parents. It is not applicable to
disputes between therapeutic foster parents and their therapeutic provider or
child-placing agency and does not apply to the closing of a therapeutic or
other foster home licensed/approved by an agency other than DHR. This process is not intended for providers of
residential care.
18. If
the complaint or concern is in reference to another county (such as when a
child is placed across county lines in a neighboring county and the complaint
is against the neighboring county), the local foster parent should discuss the
complaint or concern with their county DHR liaison and if appropriate, the
local DHR staff liaison should assist the local foster parent in completing the
problem solving process documentation.
The foster parent should also contact the child’s social worker
about the complaint or concern to seek resolution to the problem and proceed
with taking the steps as outlined in below.
In all of these situations, the local DHR office should be notified of
the problems that the local foster parents are experiencing and should help the
foster parent to seek resolution to the problem across county lines. If the foster parent is a therapeutic foster
parent, they should file their grievance with the county holding custody of the
child. These foster parents may choose
liaisons from this same county, the county in which they live or ask their
therapeutic agency to assist them in the grievance process.
The Process
1. When
an appropriate party, as listed in the guidelines, initiates a complaint, both
in writing and by direct contact, with the local DHR office (regardless with
whom the initial contact is made), the local Department should respond
(acknowledging receipt of the grievance) to the person(s) making the complaint
within five (5) business days with a response to the problem.
a. There
should be a clearly identified chain of command for filing grievance at the
local level that specifies who will respond to complaints filed by the foster
parent within five (5) business days.
b. The
chain of command should be the line worker, the supervisor, the DHR staff
liaison, the program supervisor, child welfare administrator, the assistant
director, and/or the county director respectively. Also refer to (d) below.
c. At
any point during this process after the grievance has been elevated to a
supervisory level, a consultant from the Office of Child Welfare Consultation
can be contacted for assistance.
d. When
the foster parent receives any inappropriate response to a request for
assistance, they should immediately move up the chain of command. When the
foster parent does not receive a timely response to a request, they should
immediately move up the chain of command. The next person in the chain of
command should respond (acknowledging receipt of grievance) to the person(s)
making the complaint by the next business day.
e. The
foster parent can request an ISP to address the issue or when appropriate may
contact any service provider whose services have been arranged in the ISP for
guidance in addressing the problem.
f.
Written complaints should be directed
to the county director who will copy and disseminate to each person in
the chain of command for the local office
g. The
foster parent can also ask for assistance from the foster parent liaison for
the county (either the foster parent’s county of residence, or the county
holding custody of the child) in seeking resolution to the problem. The liaison can make telephone calls to DHR
staff on behalf of the foster parent.
2. If
within five (5) business days of receipt of grievance the local office
determines that there is no satisfactory solution immediately available, the
local office should advise the person making the complaint (a) of alternative
suggestions for resolving the problem or (b) of a specific amount of time that
is needed to come to a more satisfactory resolution. If there is no response (acknowledging
receipt of the grievance and outlining time lines for hearing/addressing
grievance) from the county within the initial five-day time frame, the
complaint can be immediately elevated to the State Grievance Committee.
3. Weekly
status reports should be provided in writing to the person making the complaint
during the period of time that the local office is trying to find a resolution.
4. The
local office should involve pertinent individuals/staff in seeking a resolution
from the case social worker up through the County Director and including the
DHR and foster parent liaisons.
5. When
a resolution is reached at the local level, the foster parent should be
contacted to determine complete satisfaction.
This contact should be made by the county director and/or his/her
designee.
Note: A report of all grievances
reviewed locally should be provided to the County Director for review by their
local Foster Care Advisory Council.
6. After
30 days of working with the county on the grievance, the person making the
complaint does not feel that there has been a timely response or a satisfactory
resolution to the problem, the complaint can be elevated to the State Grievance
Committee.
7. The form attached, or any other document showing the required information, should be mailed to:
Project Respect State Grievance Committee
Office
of Foster Care
Alabama
Department of Human Resources
50
Ripley Street
Montgomery,
Alabama 36130
B. SDHR
Grievance Committee Process:
1. When the complaint is forwarded to SDHR, the
complaint will be logged in by the Office of Foster Care. (Complaint Log)
2. The
Office of Foster Care will notify the foster parent and the local DHR office
via a form letter that the complaint has been received. This form letter will
also request copies of records and other necessary documentation be sent to the
SDHR Office of Foster Care.
3. The
Project Respect Committee members will be notified at the same time of the
receipt of complaint and a date set to review the case.
4. Upon
a preliminary review of the case by the staff in the Office of Foster Care,
assistance from the Office of Child Welfare Consultation may be requested (if
the consultant has not already been involved in reviewing the
case/situation). This should be done
within five working days of receipt of the referral.
If the consultant has already been involved in reviewing
the information, a report will be forwarded to the Office of Foster Care within
two days. Information that may be necessary for review of a complaint is the
most current ISP, any
medical/psychological assessments or summaries, CAN files, foster parent
records, payment records for providers, case records, QA reports, court
orders/reports to name a few.
5. Depending
on the nature of the complaint, other steps that may be taken by the Office of
Foster Care may include:
a. Request an emergency ISP be held to look at the issue
in question with specification as to which parties should attend.
b. Recommend emergency steps to ensure safety of child
which might include suspension of visitation; change in visitation location;
safety measures to ensure careful monitoring of the case, temporary suspension
of placement until safety measures are in place, etc.
c. Request local QA committee review of case record with
any recommendations.
d. Request a review of the case by a
consultant including interviews with parties to the case to gain additional
information
e. Other evaluations or assessments as deemed necessary.
All information should be reviewed and fact finding completed by the
consultant with the Office of Foster care within ten (10) working days of the receipt
of the complaint into the state office.
Based on records/documentation received with the grievance as well as any
additional information obtained through the above listed activities, the
Project Respect Grievance Committee may decide
a. to
review the case and make recommendations to the County, through the
Commissioner; or
b. to
refer the grievance to mediation as described later in these guidelines
6. If
the committee will do a full review of the grievance with recommendations, they
will meet within 21 working days of receipt of the grievance (date stamped).
The committee’s review will include the County Office personnel, the
foster parent, and others as appropriate in a staffing of the case. This can be by phone or in person at a
specified location, to consider recommendations and to discuss a plan of
action.
7. Documentation
of this review process will be maintained.
8.
Within five working days after this meeting/conference call,
a report from the committee will be made to The Commissioner. The Committee’s recommendations may
include:
a. no
further action is necessary
b. actions
that should be taken by county – recommendations will be made
c. referral
should be made to trained mediators (described below).
9. The
Commissioner will have final word on the disposition of the grievance. The commissioner will review the
recommendations of the Project Respect Grievance Committee and will then send
the county director a letter outlining the recommendations/instructions for
next steps, as he/she deems appropriate.
If action by the county is contained in this letter, the County Director
shall prepare a written response to the recommendations which includes the
county’s plan for implementation or justification for any other action to
be taken. This letter and plan shall be
sent within two weeks of receipt of the Commissioner’s
letter/recommendations. Additionally,
documentation of actual steps and actions taken to resolve the problem will be
provided to the Office of Foster Care until final resolution is attained.
If “no further action” is recommended, the Commissioner will
send a letter to the person filing the grievance.
It should be noted that the grievance committee or state
office staff are not to make changes in case plan. Recommendations for review
and possible changes in case plan should be taken to the ISP/treatment team for
consideration and action. Results of
said review shall be included in the county’s response to Commissioner
and Office of Foster Care.
The Commissioner will be responsible for any consequences
to staff for failure to report in a timely manner and/or follow recommendations
without justification.
10. A representative from the grievance committee
will follow-up with the foster parent after the report is received from the
county office. The committee will decide who this representative will be when
they review the case and make recommendations.
11.
If the recommendations from the committee include referral to a trained
mediator, said mediation will be requested by The Office of Foster Care. A co-mediator model will be utilized. The
mediators will be a representative from SDHR (staff from the SDHR PACT Office,
SDHR Legal Office) as well as a representative from AFAPA. The mediators will
have no prior involvement in the dispute unless waived by all parties to the
dispute. Once referred to a mediator,
the matter will be scheduled for mediation by the mediator in consultation with
the parties. The agreement reached as a result of the mediation will be binding
and signed by all parties. When the agreement
contains provisions that affects the child/family case plan, the same should be
taken to the ISP/treatment team for consideration and action.
(This
form may be used to file a complaint with the social worker, the supervisor,
the County Director or the Project Respect State Grievance Committee)
1. Name
of Person making the complaint: ____________________________________________
Address of
Person making the complaint: __________________________________________
Phone Number of
the Person making the complaint: _________________________________
2. Person making the
complaint is: Foster parent
County Supervisor
Social Worker Foster Parent Liaison
Other, please identify role
_______________________
3. County(ies)
involved:
__________________________________________________________
4. CHILDREN INVOLVED:
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