Complaints
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Do you have a complaint?
While FACS of St. Thomas and Elgin strives for excellence in service, if someone is not satisfied with the service they have received and wishes to make a complaint, the agency would like to hear about the concern. The complaint process can be an opportunity for the agency to learn and develop strategies for improvement.
A process has been put in place by FACS to assist with making a complaint, based on the following principles;
- Whenever possible, complaints should be handled by the local children’s aid society.
- Early resolution of complaints at the informal stage is the most direct and efficient way to address concerns and our experiences have shown complaints are best worked-through at the front-line level whenever possible.
- The complaint and review process must be easy to access. It should also be friendly, fair and efficient. The process should be respectful of an individual’s culture and religious customs.
- The person making the complaint should have access to an internal informal and formal complaints resolution process, as well as a formal review mechanism that is independent of the Family and Children’s Services, specifically the Child and Family Services Review Board.
- Mediation to resolve differences will benefit both the person(s) making the complaint and the agency.
- The person making the complaint should have the right to support and advocacy during the process.
- All staff must take into account the literacy level when an individual is expressing a complaint and wanting to start the formal process. For those individuals where there is a literacy issue, agency staff will assist the complainant in drafting the written complaint, identify a family member who can assist with the process or enlist assistance from another community service agency that can support this process.
- The process cannot review issues that have been decided by the Court or are currently before the Court or is subject to another decision making process under the Act or the Labour Relations Act 1995