37 Tex. Admin. Code § 385.8111 - Complaints from the Public
(a) Purpose.
This rule establishes a process through which the Texas Juvenile Justice
Department (TJJD) resolves public complaints about TJJD operations and
services, including complaints that allege violations of the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Members of the public are entitled to and shall
receive timely and responsive resolutions to their complaints.
(b) Public Complaint That Does Not Involve an
ADA Violation.
(1) How to File a Public
Non-ADA Complaint.
(A) Complaints must be
filed in writing within 180 calendar days after the complainant became aware of
the circumstances that are the basis of the complaint. TJJD may refuse to
consider the complaint if it is not filed within the 180-day
deadline.
(B) No particular format
is required for a complaint. However, the complaint should contain at least the
following information:
(i) name, address, and
telephone number of the person filing the complaint; and
(ii) the nature of the complaint and a brief
description of the circumstances surrounding the complaint to include location,
names, and dates.
(2) Where to File a Public Non-ADA Complaint.
(A) The complaint may be mailed, emailed, or
submitted in person to:
(i) the public
complaint coordinator in TJJD's Central Office; or
(ii) the administrator of a TJJD field office
or facility. That administrator immediately notifies the public complaint
coordinator and forwards the written complaint to the public complaint
coordinator within two working days from the date the complaint was
received.
(B) The
mailing addresses and physical addresses of TJJD facilities and offices are
available on TJJD's website.
(3) Processing Procedures for Public Non-ADA
Complaints.
(A) The public complaint
coordinator is notified of all complaints received and maintains a record of
each complaint.
(B) The public
complaint coordinator assigns each complaint to the most appropriate
administrator for response.
(C) The
administrator assigned to respond to a complaint:
(i) attempts to resolve the complaint in a
timely and effective manner;
(ii)
reports the status of efforts to resolve the complaint to the complainant at
least monthly until and including final disposition;
(iii) sends copies of the monthly status
updates to the public complaint coordinator.
(c) Public Complaint That Involves
an ADA Violation.
(1) ADA Compliance Officer.
TJJD complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The
executive director has appointed the agency's human resources director as the
ADA compliance officer. The human resources director is located in the agency's
Central Office. The address of the Central Office is available on TJJD's
website.
(2) How to File a Public
ADA Complaint.
(A) Complaints may be filed in
writing or verbally. If the complaint is initially filed verbally, it must
subsequently be reduced to writing and received by the ADA compliance officer
not later than 15 calendar days after the ADA compliance officer was notified
of the initial verbal filing. The complaint must be filed within 180 calendar
days after the complainant became aware of, or should have become aware of, the
alleged violation. TJJD may refuse to consider the complaint if it is not filed
within the 180-day deadline.
(B) No
particular format is required for an ADA complaint. However, the complaint
should contain at least the following information:
(i) name, address, and telephone number of
the person filing the complaint; and
(ii) the nature of the complaint and a brief
description of the circumstances surrounding the complaint to include location,
names, and dates.
(3) Where to File a Public ADA Complaint. The
complaint may be filed by any of the following means:
(A) directly, either verbally or in writing,
with the ADA compliance officer in the Central Office; or
(B) in writing with the administrator of any
TJJD field office or facility. That administrator immediately notifies the ADA
compliance officer and forwards the written complaint to the ADA compliance
officer within two working days from the date the complaint was
received.
(4) Processing
Procedures for Public ADA Complaints.
(A) ADA
Compliance Officer and Employee Grievance Administrator Responsibilities.
Within five calendar days after the ADA compliance officer receives the written
complaint, the ADA compliance officer or designee and the employee grievance
administrator jointly identify the appropriate decision authority and establish
a date the complainant is due receipt of the decision. As soon as possible
after identification of the decision authority, the ADA compliance officer or
designee notifies the complainant of receipt of the complaint, the name of the
decision authority (i.e., the TJJD administrator appointed to resolve the
complaint), and the date a decision is due.
(B) Decision Authority's Responsibilities.
(i) Assignment. Immediately upon receipt of
the complaint, the decision authority reviews it to ensure that he/she has the
authority to grant the requested relief. If the decision authority does not
have the authority to at least take the first steps towards granting relief (if
the requested relief involves a lengthy, multi-step process), he/she forwards
the complaint to the next-level administrator who has the authority to act on
the complaint.
(ii) Time Lines. The
decision authority has 25 calendar days from the date he/she received the
complaint to conduct an investigation, resolve the complaint, prepare a written
decision, obtain a legal review of the decision, and notify the complainant in
writing of the decision. If for good cause the decision authority requires
additional time for investigation and resolution of the complaint, he/she
notifies the ADA compliance officer, employee grievance administrator, and the
complainant of the reasons for the delay and provides an estimated decision
date.
(iii) Investigation. The
decision authority conducts the investigation or appoints an employee to
conduct the investigation and provide the decision authority with non-binding
recommendations. Prior to commencing the investigation, the investigator (i.e.,
the employee who will actually conduct the investigation) reviews the complaint
with the TJJD legal department. During the course of the investigation, the
investigator keeps the complainant informed of adjustments to his/her time
line.
(iv) Report of Investigation.
(I) Prior to release of the written decision
to the complainant or to any other person or entity, the decision authority
submits the proposed decision to the TJJD legal department for review. Within
five working days after receiving the proposed decision, the legal department
reviews the proposed decision for legal sufficiency and informs the decision
authority accordingly.
(II) Upon
finalization of the written decision, the decision authority provides the
written decision to the complainant, the complainant's representative (if any),
the ADA compliance officer, the employee grievance coordinator, and the TJJD
general counsel. If the decision is adverse to the complainant, the decision
authority includes the reasons for the adverse decision.
(5) Request for Review
of Public ADA Complaint Decision.
(A) If the
complainant is dissatisfied with the decision, he/she may request a review of
the decision by the TJJD executive director. The request must:
(i) be submitted within ten calendar days
after the date of receipt of the decision;
(ii) include a copy of the written decision
and a written statement specifically outlining the reasons for disagreement;
and
(iii) be addressed to the TJJD
executive director at the agency's Central Office. The address of the Central
Office is available on TJJD's website.
(B) The executive director or designee
notifies the complainant in writing of the result of the review within 20
calendar days after receipt of the request for review. Prior to releasing
his/her decision, the executive director should submit the complaint record to
the TJJD legal department for review and advice. If the executive director's
decision upholds the initial ruling, the written notification need only state
that the issue has been considered and no valid reason has been found to
warrant reversing the decision.
(C)
The decision is distributed to the parties identified in paragraph
(4)(B)(iv)(II) of this subsection.
(D) The decision by the executive director
finalizes the complaint process within TJJD and exhausts the complainant's
administrative remedies.
(6) Record Repository for Public ADA
Complaints. The ADA compliance officer or designee maintains the files and
records of all ADA complaints. Upon completion of processing the complaint, the
original decision authority ensures that the original complaint, all
correspondence, and any other relevant materials are forwarded to the ADA
compliance officer for filing. The ADA compliance officer ensures that any
appeals are similarly filed.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.