Complaint/Concern Resolution for People Who Receive Support and their Families, Guardians and/or Advocates and the General Public

Community Living Mississauga is committed to maintaining quality and excellence in services. In order to do this, there must be an established culture of open, supportive communication. To facilitate communication, people receiving supports and services, their families, guardians and/or advocates and members of the general public must have ways to discuss and bring forth their concerns, complaints and feedback constructively. By providing mechanisms to do this, we can work cooperatively to address and correct issues and/or resolve differences in a timely fashion.

Where reasonable and necessary and in accordance with Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services Quality Assurance Measures complaints/concerns/feedback will be investigated.

  • If the complaint or concern is about abuse, neglect or exploitation, Community Living Mississauga’s Policy regarding Abuse and Neglect will be followed
  • If the complaint or concern is about a rights restriction, Community Living Mississauga’s policy regarding Rights Restrictions and Due Process will be followed
  • A plain language version of the Complaints/Concerns mechanism is provided to all people who receive support from Community Living Mississauga

Procedure

Step One

If a person receiving supports and services and/or his/her family/guardian/advocate or a member of the general public has an issue or concern regarding supports and services, the issues should be directed verbally or in writing or in any other manner that suits that person’s communication style. The complaint/concern should first be addressed with a support staff, then to the area Manager and then to the area Director. It is the responsibility of the Support Worker/Manager/Director receiving the complaint to address the concern and work towards achieving resolution at the time that the complaint is received in addition to ensuring the process is free of any coercion or intimidation before, during or after resolution.

Step Two

If the response from the Support Worker/Manager/Director is unsatisfactory to the person, the person, with assistance as needed or requested, can call the “Telephone Complaint Line.” This is not an emergency number. People can leave a message on a voicemail and will be responded to within 72 hours. The number is 905-542-3607. You can also send an email directly by CLICKING HERE. When a person lodges a complaint through the Complaint Line they are advised that they may be contacted throughout the process for information, follow up or any other related communication. They will be asked to make themselves available for this type of follow up.

Step Three

In order to avoid conflict of interest, the Director of Quality and Community Development is responsible for checking the Telephone Complaint Line and the email box daily. This Director does not have direct support responsibilities and therefore does not have any bias and is a neutral party.

The person leaving the complaint will be responded to within 72 hours. It is the responsibility of the Director of Quality and Community Development to investigate the complaint/concern and work towards a resolution reporting back to the person within five business days in addition to ensuring the process is free of any coercion or intimidation before, during or after resolution.

It should be noted that some situations may require a longer period of time to work through. However, communication back to the person with a status update will be provided within five business days.

Step Four

If the response from Step Three is unsatisfactory, the person receiving support, family/guardian/advocate can contact the Executive Director. The Executive Director will review and respond to the complaint/concerns raised within 10 business days of receiving the complaint.

Step Five

If the response from Step Four is unsatisfactory, the person receiving supports and services/family/guardian/advocate can contact the President of the Board of Directors requesting further action through the Board of Directors. This can be done by communicating this to the Executive Director who will in turn advise the President of the Board. The Board President and Executive Director will review the initial complaint and the Executive Director’s response. A written response will be forwarded to the person receiving services and supports family/guardian/advocate within thirty days from the date of the initial contact with the Board President.

Note:

All people who receive supports/services have the right to be heard. This includes the right to submit a complaint/concern without risk of supports or services being negatively impacted or withdrawn as a result. People lodging a complaint/concern will be advised of this at the time of the complaint/concern. All complaints/concerns will be addressed as per the above process without reprisal in accordance with Community Living Mississauga’s Rights Policy and Rights Assessment Process.

Community Living Mississauga is proactive in soliciting feedback in a variety of other ways such as online surveys, telephone surveys, parent groups, program participation feedback, etc.

All complaints are fully documented and recorded in the organizational database.

In order to promote continuous quality improvement an annual review and analysis is conducted of the complaints and feedback.