Policy
To safeguard the rights of the Participant by formalizing the steps to be taken by a Participant, Participant representative, or any other person wishing to act on behalf of the Participant regarding any policy and procedure, program, Human Rights Restriction, or incident affecting the Participant.
Following steps and timeliness should be adhered to as much as possible. A Participant’s complaint should not be discarded out-of-hand simply because of a slight variation in the procedure.
Procedures
- The Participant (or whomever) should first attempt to resolve the grievance informally with the direct care staff assigned to the Participant at the time the incident occurred if the grievance was incident produced. If not incident produced, then it may be discussed with any of their direct care staff.
- At the conclusion of the informal meeting, the direct care staff shall prepare a short statement which should include name of the Participant, the date, what the issue was that was discussed, and any resolution offered. A copy shall be given to the Participant, the Program Manager, and the Participant’s Support Coordinator. If the Participant is not satisfied with the staff’s response, the Participant may file a formal grievance with the Executive Director as follows:
- Complete the Participant Dispute Resolution Form and present it to the Program Manager, with staff assistance as necessary. This should be done as soon as possible, but no later than five days after receiving the informal response. A copy will be sent to the Participant’s Support Coordinator.
- The Executive Director and the Program Manager will review the grievance and meet with the Participant within five business days of receiving the grievance. The Participant may have a representative at the meeting for assistance or support.
- The Program Manager must respond to the grievance within five business days of the meeting. If the Program Manager’s resolution is not satisfactory to the Participant, they may file an appeal through the Board of Directors. If the disagreement involves a human rights issue, the appear should be made to the Human Rights Committee.
- If the grievance is still not resolved, the Participant will be assisted by his Program Manager and/or the Executive Director in obtaining outside legal aide so that she/he may pursue the issue further.
- Grievance documentation shall not be filed in the Participant’s permanent record, to safeguard against reprisals. If the Participant is an adult and has no guardian, every attempt will be made to inform the appropriate relatives of the existence and progress of the grievance.
- Although these matters need to be handled officially, there is no need for strict formality that may make the Participant feel uncomfortable. No Participant or staff will be reprimanded or in any way punished, directly or indirectly, for having filed a grievance.
Re: Policy 207.0 Rev 2017.03