INTRODUCTION
Women’s Habitat provides temporary shelter and a range of transitional services to women and children escaping violence. We strive to provide superior and responsive service to the people we service and to do so in a respectful, inclusive and confidential manner.
We recognize that from time-to-time, community members and current or former clients of our services may have concerns or complaints regarding their experience with Women’s Habitat. We encourage our stakeholders to tell us about their concerns. We are committed to addressing all concerns in a prompt and thorough manner. If you have a concern or complaint regarding any aspect of the service received through our programs or by our staff, we encourage you to use the procedure outlined below.
CONFIDENTIALITY
All documents and discussions relating to a complaint shall remain confidential except where disclosure is required by law. It is considered a serious matter to divulge any information pertaining to a complaint to parties not involved in the complaint or investigation procedure. Any breach of confidentiality will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis by the Executive Director.
INFORMAL COMPLAINT PROCESS
We believe that many disputes are best resolved by the parties themselves. All staff are encouraged to handle any complaint in a non-confronted manner. Accordingly, if you feel comfortable doing so, you are encouraged to address your concerns or complaints directly to the person or persons involved in an effort to resolve the matter.
If you do not feel comfortable addressing the matter directly with the person involved or if attempts to do so fail, you may use the formal process outlined below.
FORMAL COMPLAINT PROCESS
The formal complaint procedure is as follows:
- You must fill out a Complaint form which can be obtained either through our website (www.womens-habitat.ca) and/or from any staff person. If you feel uncomfortable asking for the Complaint Form please contact our HR Manager at lburrow@womens-habitat.ca.
- You must submit your completed form to any staff member in a sealed envelope. We encourage you to submit the form as soon as possible following the incident(s) complained of. The complaint will be investigated by a Women’s Habitat manager.
- In the course of its investigation, the appropriate Manager may request an interview with the complainant for the purposes of obtaining additional information. The Manager may also conduct interviews, where necessary, of Women’s Habitat employees, clients, former clients, community members or other users of Women’s Habitat services. Generally, except where a complaint involves allegations against a specific individual, the identity of the complainant will not be disclosed during the course of the interview process.
- After conducting its investigation, the Manager will communicate in writing to the complainant.
- Where a complaint is substantiated as a result of the investigation, the methods of addressing the complaint may include:
- A mediation between the complainant and the individual involved in complaint;
- in the case of a complaint against a Women’s Habitat employee, the Executive Director will be notified
- in the case of a complaint involving another client, counselling given to one or both clients from Women’s Habitat; and
- in the case of a complaint involving another client where safety has become comprised, removal of one or both clients from Women’s Habitat.
OTHER REMEDIES
The resolution procedures outlined in this policy are not intended to replace any external claim or complaint procedure. If a community member, client or former resident is not satisfied with the outcome of any resolution procedures invoked under this policy, either party may pursue a remedy outside the agency.
QUESTIONS
If you have any questions regarding this policy or the procedures outlined in this policy, please feel free to contact Carla Neto, Executive Director at cneto@womens-habitat.ca.
Download and fill out the Complaint Form