Grievance Policy

HealthForum is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the ethical principles and guidelines of all of our accrediting bodies (APA, NASW, NBCC, PNA, CA-BBS). As such, HealthForum will comply with all legal and ethical responsibilities to be non-discriminatory in promotional activities, program contents and in the treatment of program participants. The monitoring and assessment of compliance with these standards will be the responsibility of the Director of HealthForum's Continuing Education Program in consultation with the members of its Planning Committee.

While HealthForum goes to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all participants and attempts to anticipate problems, there will be occasional issues that come to the attention of the activity staff that require intervention and/or action on the part of the activity staff or an officer of HealthForum. This procedural description serves as a guideline for handling such grievances.

When a participant, either orally or in written format, files a grievance and expects action on the complaint, the following actions will be taken.

1. If the grievance concerns a speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of presentation, the individual filing the grievance will be asked to put his or her comments in written format and submit them to the Director of CE Program. The CE Program Director will then pass the comments to the speaker, assuring the confidentially of the grieved individual.
   
2. If the grievance concerns a workshop offering, its content, level of presentation, or the facilities in which the workshop was offered, the Director of CE Program will mediate and will be the final arbitrator. If the participant requests action, the Director of CE Program will:
   
   a. attempt to move the participant to another workshop, or
   b. provide a credit for a subsequent year's workshop, or
   c. provide a partial or full refund of the workshop fee.

   Actions 2b and 2c will require a written note, documentation of the grievance, for record keeping purposes. The note need not be signed by the grieved individual.

3. If the grievance concerns a home study offering, its content, level of presentation, or the format in which the home study activity was offered, the Director of CE Program will mediate and will be the final arbitrator. If the participant requests action, the Director of CE Program will:
   
   a. attempt to move the participant into another home study activity or workshop, or
   b. provide a credit for a subsequent year's home study activity or workshop, or
   c. provide a partial or full refund of the home study fee.

   Actions 3b and 3c will require a written note, documentation of the grievance, for record keeping purposes. The note need not be signed by the grieved individual.

4. If the grievance concerns HealthForum's CE program, in a specific regard, the Director of CE Program will attempt to arbitrate.