Section 18-6-1-A-II-III - COMPLAINTSA grievance is a formal statement of complaint for a wrong or hardship suffered. All DFCS clients shall be given the Client's Grievance Procedure during an investigation and/or at case opening and assisted with filing a grievance if assistance is requested. Clients who have a grievance against a decision made should follow the Appeals section of this policy. For this procedure, a client is defined as any client or stakeholder involved in a case.
Clients wishing to file a formal grievance shall be walked through the following steps:
1. The client should be given the formal grievance form and asked to complete Section I of the form. 2. The form should be turned in to the supervisor or their designee. Whoever receives the form should log it into the formal grievance log. Each county shall keep this log and be able to report the number of formal grievances received monthly. The grievances shall be kept in a separate "grievances" file in the county by the supervisor/designee. 3. The supervisor has five (5) business days upon receiving the formal grievance to take appropriate action and contact the client regarding that action. The supervisor may ask the Worker to take appropriate action first. Face to face contact is preferred when contacting the client regarding the grievance. If necessary, phone contact is acceptable. If the complaint is about the Worker, his/her supervisor will handle the grievance (skip to number 5). 4. The client will be asked to sign whether or not he/she agrees with the action taken by the Worker. If he/she does not agree and further action is required, the Worker will give the form to the supervisor. If the contact is over the phone, the original form and a copy of the form should be mailed to the client for his/her signature. The original should be signed by the client and the copy is for his/her records. The worker should also keep a copy of the form when mailing the original to the client. The client will have five (5) business days to return the signed form. ** If the client states on the phone that he or she would like further action taken on the grievance, please note that on the form and forward it to the supervisor at that time. You do not need to wait on the returned form before forwarding it.
5. The supervisor will have five (5) business days to take appropriate action and to contact the client regarding the action taken. 6. The client will be asked to sign whether or not he/she agrees with the action taken by the supervisor. If the client does not agree and further action is required, the supervisor will give the form to the RD within three (3) business days. If the contact was made by phone, please follow the same protocol as stated above. 7. The RD or their designee will have ten (10) business days to take appropriate action and to contact the client regarding the action taken. 8. The client will be asked to sign whether or not he/she agrees with the action taken by the RD. If the client does not agree and further action is required, he/she must forward the form to the Division Director's office within thirty (30) days requesting an Administrative Hearing for the grievance. MDHS-DFCS
Attn: Division Director
P.O. Box 352
Jackson, MS 39205
18 Miss. Code. R. 6-1-A-II-III