Every cared for/ care experienced child or young person or family can make what we call ‘representations’ about the care they receive.
Representations can be:
- A comment – telling us what you think
- A compliment – saying thank you or well done
- A complaint – telling us when you think we’ve done something wrong.
If you think we’ve got something wrong or you’re unhappy about something then we want to know about it.
Any young person who wants to make a complaint also has the right to an advocate. They can support you to speak up for yourself, or sometimes can speak for you. You can choose who you want to be your advocate. It could be someone you know and trust or you can ask for somebody independent.
You can follow our guide below all about how to make a complaint and what happens next or you can tell someone that you trust who can help you.
Process
First of all we will try to sort out any problems and deal with concerns as quickly as possible. Most will be sorted out within 2 days by your carer or social worker. If they can’t do this, or if you want someone else to deal with it we will follow these stages.
Stage 1
We will ask a manager to look into the complaint and talk to you about it. We will try to agree a way to sort it out. We will write you a letter saying what we have agreed to do. If you are not happy with what has been done to sort the complaint out, you or your advocate can ask for it to go to Stage 2.
Stage 2
At Stage 2 we ask people who do not work for Children’s Services to help us sort out the complaint. These people are called “Independent”. We will ask them to investigate the complaint. A senior manager will send you a copy of the report with a letter telling you what Children’s Services are going to do. If you want, we will meet with you and your advocate to explain this in more detail.
Stage 3
If you think that: The report or letter at Stage 2 was wrong or had bits missing the complaints procedure has not been followed Children’s Services has not tried its best to sort out the complaint you or your advocate can ask for the complaint to go to Stage 3.
Three independent people who have not dealt with the complaint before will meet with you, the independent people who did the Stage 2 investigation and someone from Children’s Services. They will ask questions to find out what we have done to sort your problem out.
After the meeting the panel will write a report to say what they think Children’s Services needs to do to sort out the complaint.