Accountability
Tell us.
No complaint requires a form, a meeting, or the courage to confront anyone.
How to complain
Any form, to anyone. Spoken, written, or emailed. To any staff member, or straight to the Office of the Executive Director at [email protected].
A staff member who receives a complaint sends it to the Executive Director the same day. Anonymous complaints are accepted and taken as seriously as their content deserves.
What happens next
- If we know who you are, we acknowledge your complaint in writing within three business days.
- We review it. A billing question might resolve in a phone call. A conduct concern gets interviews and a record review, and counsel where warranted.
- Nobody reviews a complaint about their own conduct. If it concerns the Executive Director it goes to the Board Chair. If it concerns the Chair it goes to the Vice-Chair or another disinterested officer.
- We aim to give you a written resolution within thirty days, and we tell you if a matter genuinely needs longer and why.
Your care continues unaffected. No service is reduced, delayed, or conditioned because you complained. That protection covers anyone who helps with a review, too.
What we can do about it
Remedies fit the finding. Correcting a record. An apology. A fee adjustment or refund. A different counselor if you ask. Corrective action. Or a change to the policy that allowed the failure.
Every complaint is logged and reported to the Board at least annually. Serious matters go to the Board without waiting.
You can go outside us at any time
Nothing here requires you to come to us first, or at all.
Where else to complain
- About an unlicensed pastoral counselor at RCA
- The Office of the Executive Director receives and responds to complaints regarding the practice of psychotherapy by any unlicensed or unregistered practitioner providing services at RCA. Contact [email protected], or [MAILING ADDRESS].
- About a licensed or registered clinician
- The California Board of Behavioral Sciences receives and responds to complaints regarding services provided by individuals licensed and registered by the board. If you have a complaint and are unsure whether your practitioner is licensed or registered, contact the Board at 916-574-7830 or use the board's online license verification at www.bbs.ca.gov.
- About privacy
- You may complain to us, and you may complain to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. The address is in our Notice of Privacy Practices.
- About accessibility or unequal treatment
- The Office of the Executive Director handles these under this same procedure. See our Accessibility and Language Access Statement.
No one will be retaliated against, or treated differently in their care, for complaining to us, to any board, or to any agency.