1.8.2.5: Handling Official Complaints About Early Care and Education Staff

Early care and education programs should have a process to handle official complaints about staff made to licensing or referral agencies by people inside or outside the program. When official complaints about staff are made to licensing or referral agencies, the early care and education program should do the following:

• Give the staff member(s) formal notice of the complaint(s) and resulting action, if any
• Maintain records of the complaint(s) and corrective action(s), if any
• Post verified complaint(s) with corrective action(s), consistent with state/local requirements
• Post a notice on how to contact the state agency responsible for maintaining complaint records
• Make the complaints available to parents/guardians on request

RATIONALE

Early care and education programs are responsible for responding to and addressing official complaints to maintain a safe environment for children. Also, when deciding to select or continue care at an early care and education program, parents/guardians have the right to know about any complaints made and corrective action(s).

COMMENTS

Information on how to submit a complaint within a state or territory can be found at: https://www.childcare.gov/health-and-safety-reporting

TYPE OF FACILITY

Center, Early Head Start, Head Start, Large Family Child Care Home, Small Family Child Care Home

NOTES

Content in the standard was modified on 02/04/2022