About Grievance Forms for Homeless People
A complaint is just a complaint, but a grievance is a detailed document identifying a questionable issue. Homeless people rely on grievance forms for protection. The forms are used as proof that an issue exists and is used as a tool to initiate change. Whether homeless individuals have a complaint about a shelter or staff member, an agency or if they have been victims of a hate crime or civil rights abuse, their grievance is their voice.
Function
Grievance forms allow a homeless person to officially file a complaint against a shelter, agency or person. Grievances can result in action---such as prosecution of an individual involved in a hate crime attack---or simply serve as documentation, such as in the case of complaining about a staff member of a shelter. Grievances are commonly filed for civil rights violations, hate crimes, violation of confidentiality, or as a way to appeal a decision.
Benefits
Without a grievance procedure in place, homeless people would have no formal way of documenting and seeking action for an abuse. Grievances are thorough, detailed forms that are useful in prosecuting an individual or addressing an issue. These forms are a way to get things done and seek justice, no matter how large or small the issue may be.
Types
Each agency may have their own type of grievance form and grievance procedures to follow. If a resident of a homeless shelter has an issue with a staff member, for example, the shelter may refer the resident to fill out a grievance with a client advocate, who is often an employee of the shelter. As the title implies, the job of a client advocate is to stick up for the client (or resident) and follow through on that person's complaint.
The resident can also fill out a grievance with the local homeless advocacy organization. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) in Cleveland has two types of forms. One, known as an "incident report form," is for victims of a physical hate crime attack. This form documents the details of the attack---what the attacker(s) looked like, where the victim was staying at the time and the events that led up to the attack. The other is a basic grievance form that can serve as third-party documentation against a shelter, agency or individual. NEOCH would then follow up on the grievance and make sure the shelter or agency addressed the complaint.
Grievances are written documents that can be accessed online or filled out by a person over the phone. Some grievances do require the person's signature to be considered authentic.
Identification
Even though some grievances require a signature, others can remain 100 percent anonymous. Usually, these forms only serve as documentation of an incident.
Considerations
Grievances regarding hate crimes and civil rights abuses are particularly important due to the rising violence committed against homeless people. Serious cases of abuse are usually reported to the police department, and a copy is sent to the National Coalition for the Homeless, which releases an annual report documenting all hate crimes cases across the nation. Even if a grievance isn't used to bring immediate action, it's still an important tool used to identify trends, like which cities have seen the most cases of abuse and whether violent attacks are on the rise this year compared to last year.
Tags: civil rights, hate crime, hate crimes, shelter agency, staff member, About Grievance