Child Care Facility Complaint Process

Child Care Facility Complaint Process A. Making a Complaint 1) Any person may file a program related complaint or submit a tip about waste, fraud, or abuse of the program through the following methods: a. Call Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) HOTLINE 1-866-489-8734 for complaints related to licensure or child care regulations. Unless ordered by a court, the identity of the individual who reported the complaint shall not be disclosed outside of MSDH and/or MDHS investigative staff. b. Submit the MDHS FRAUD TIP FORM http://www.mdhs.ms.gov/ or call 1-800- 299-6905 for complaints related to CCDF program violations or suspected fraud, waste or abuse. 2) Depending on the nature of the complaint the issue may be resolved wholly by MSDH, or it may be handled jointly by MSDH and MDHS or referred to the appropriate agency. B. Record of Complaints The Mississippi State Department of Health will maintain a record of substantiated parental complaints against child care providers. This function is performed on behalf of MDHS in order to comply with federal requirements by maintaining a Child Care Facility Complaint Hotline for use by the public. The complaint hotline number, and all substantiated parent complaints are available by link on the consumer education website. C. Types of Complaints 1) Health and Safety Regulatory Any complaint made to MDHS against a child care provider may be referred to MSDH. All such complaints shall be logged and maintained by MSDH. MSDH is responsible for investigating each complaint filed against a child care provider. MSDH may request assistance from MDHS, as needed, during a complaint investigation. MSDH will maintain records of complaints made against a child care provider, these records may be obtained by making a Public Records request to MSDH. 2) Financial or Program Violations The MDHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) will conduct investigations of suspected intentional program violations from child care providers and/or recipients stemmed from fraud tips, data matching, quality control reviews, Child Care Payment Program generated system reports or any other reliable source.