Ariz. Admin. Code § R6-5-5006 - Monitoring; Complaint Recording and Reporting Requirements

A. Monitoring and Investigation: Neither the Department nor its Contractors monitor or investigate the activities of a provider, or investigate any complaint about a provider, except as otherwise prescribed by law for a family child care provider.

B. Regulated Providers: Upon receipt of a complaint about a regulated provider, a Contractor shall refer the complainant to the appropriate regulatory agency, law enforcement agency, or Child Protective Services.

C. Registered Providers: The provisions in this subsection govern complaints about a registered provider.

1. Any person may complain about a registered family child care provider on the registry by notifying a Contractor. Upon receipt of a complaint on a registered family child care provider, a Contractor shall:

a. Refer the complainant to the appropriate investigative agency (law enforcement or child protective services), if the issue raised in the complaint is suspected child abuse or neglect. The contractor shall forward a complaint involving law enforcement or child protective services to the DES Child Care Administration for resolution;

b. Refer the complainant to DHS and forward an over-ratio referral form to DHS if the complaint alleges that the provider is caring for more children than the law allows; or

c. Take a complaint made in reference to a CACFP home provider not regulated by any other agency and forward the complaint to ADE for resolution by its sponsoring agencies.

d. Take the complaint if it raises an issue other than those described in subsections (C)(1)(a), (b) or (c).

2. If the Contractor takes the complaint as under subsection (C)(1)(c) or (d), the Contractor shall obtain and record, on a Department approved form, the following information, if available:

a. Provider name and address;

b. Summary of the complaint, including date and time of incident;

c. Name, address, and phone number of the person making the complaint, unless the complainant indicates that the complainant or someone else may come to substantial harm. The Contractor shall document a complainant's claim that substantial harm may result as a result of disclosure of the complainant's name, as prescribed in A.R.S. § 41-1010; and

d. If applicable, witness information, such as name, address, and phone number.

3. The person recording the information shall sign and date the form.

4. After redacting personally identifiable information, the Contractor shall send the complaint form to the provider for response within three work days.

5. The provider shall respond to the complaint by completing the provider response portion of the complaint form within 30 days of the complaint mailing date;

6. The Contractor shall allow the public to inspect the complaint, and the provider's response, if given, with all personally identifiable information redacted. After the 30-day provider response period has expired, the Contractor shall make a complaint available for public inspection at the Contractor's office or the Contractor may mail a copy of the complaint.

Notes

Ariz. Admin. Code § R6-5-5006

Adopted effective August 11, 1976 (Supp. 76-4). Section repealed effective November 8, 1982 (Supp. 82-6). New Section adopted effective November 19, 1996 (Supp. 96-4). Amended by exempt rulemaking at 8 A.A.R. 2956, effective July 1, 2002 (Supp. 02-2).