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Introduction

If you are dissatisfied with a caregiver, you may contact LOCATE: Child Care at your local child care resource center and speak with a counselor to discuss your concerns. Many difficulties between you and a provider can be resolved. Your counselor can give you some helpful tips for continued communication with your provider.

Complaints that involve any threat to the health, safety or welfare of a child should be immediately registered with your regional Office of Child Care (OCC) and, in certain circumstances, with the Child Protective Services division of your local department of social services. A counselor at your local child care resource center can provide you with the telephone numbers of the offices nearest you.

If you do have a complaint of this nature, the LOCATE counselor can assist you by gathering pertinent information concerning your complaint and registering your complaint with the appropriate regulatory and/or social services agency.

Below is an overview of the complaint policy of the Maryland Child Care Network and the Maryland Committee for Children.

LOCATE COMPLAINT POLICY

A parent who is dissatisfied with a caregiver may call LOCATE to register a complaint. The counselor who receives this type of call must be prepared to talk with the parent about his/her concerns, maintaining a position of respect for the parent's rights and responsibilities in this matter. In addition, the counselor must provide objective counsel to the complainant and not form a judgment about the child care provider or program being discussed.

Some difficulties between parents and providers can be worked out over a period of time and with discussion. Accordingly, a complainant is provided with suggestions on how to approach the caregiver or center director, when appropriate. However, if the parent calling LOCATE with a concern feels that there has been a violation of a regulatory standard, and it is serious enough to warrant an investigation by the agency responsible for monitoring the facility, the counselor's role in these situations becomes one of encouraging the parent to report the violation to the appropriate authority, and providing him/her with the name and phone number of the person(s) to whom complaints should be addressed.

The LOCATE Complaint Policy categorizes complaints according to the perceived seriousness of the threat to the health, safety or welfare of the child. The three types of complaints recognized are Serious Complaints, Less Serious Complaints Involving Violation, and Less Serious Complaints- No Violation. The counselor who is the recipient of a complainant's concern will complete a Complaint Form during or immediately after the conversation with the parent. The counselor will report the complaint to the LOCATE Director or designee and answer questions concerning the nature of the complaint. After this discussion, the LOCATE Director or designee will determine the category and initiate the process for temporarily stopping referrals to the provider or program by LOCATE if necessary, based on the perceived seriousness of the violation.

When a Serious Complaint Involving Violation is received, referrals to the facility cease. The LOCATE Director or designee contacts OCC concerning the alleged violation, and informs the provider or program of LOCATE's actions. The temporary halt on referrals will remain in effect until the regulatory agency completes its investigation. The decision to continue to halt referrals or resume referrals is based on the action, if any, taken by the regulatory agency. The LOCATE Director also informs the provider or program, by mail, that a complaint has been lodged against them.

For complaints falling in the category of Less Serious Complaints Involving Violation, the LOCATE Director also informs the provider or program, by mail, that a complaint has been lodged against them. When a complaint in the category of Less Serious Complaints- No Violation is received, the LOCATE Director or designee does not halt referrals, notify the regulatory agency or notify the provider or program of the complaint.