Complaints Management Learn how to quickly and effectively deal with complaints Disagreements are an inevitable part of running any kind of service and when that service involves people's children you can be guaranteed misunderstandings and conflicts will occur. Learning how to quickly and effectively deal with complaints is an important part of running a child care service. Communication Good communication is vital and should begin before a child is even enrolled in your service. Offering parents a written contract which outlines your service's terms and conditions will give you the opportunity to talk everything through and for them to ask questions. Make sure the document is easy to read and understand. Taking the time to talk to parents during pick ups and drop offs will hopefully give you an opportunity to work through any small issues which arise. However it is important to be sensitive to parents and if you feel as though something is up then take the time to have a chat in a quiet corner. Serious problems should be discussed when both parties have the time to share their views without other people around. It may be necessary to arrange a meeting at a later date to ensure the environment is conducive to a mutually agreeable outcome. Make sure you make the suggestion politely: 'I can see you are upset and we need to talk about this. It's not a good time right now but why don't I call you tonight or let's make a time later in the week to discuss this problem'. There is a good chance that the situation may have cooled down a bit by the time of the conversation and you have a good chance of achieving a positive outcome. Encouraging parents to come to you as soon as they have a concern will also reduce the chance of a small issue escalating into a big issue. Personal Disagreements Taking responsibility for caring for someone else's children is a big job and there are bound to be differences in opinion about the best ways of doing things. In cases like this compromise is definitely the best course of action to pursue. If parents come to you with a specific concern about something which is negotiable within your service's policy and which doesn't cause too much additional work then it is worthwhile trying to work out a way forward which works for the parents as well as the service. Parents who have been thoroughly briefed about your service's philosophy and operating policies and procedures will hopefully have made the decision to sign up to your service because they agree with them. Encouraging parents to ask lots of questions at the outset and requesting them to provide details about any particular dietary needs, sleep/comfort rituals and or personal views should also help to reduce the number of complaints you receive. It is important to inform parents about any areas of the care offered by your service which are non-negotiable; these vary but may cover areas such as how children are disciplined, how they are encouraged to relate to each other and so on. Serious Complaints Complaints concerning the health and safety of children or potential breaches of standards needed to managed carefully and may include complaints about:
The most effective way to handle parental complaints is to have an up-to-date policy on your service's complaints management procedure. Parents should be advised of your policy from the outset and have easy access to the information. The NCAC recommends that each service should develop its own complaints management policy, but says that all policies should include:
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