Conflicts are best resolved between the parties concerned.  Therefore, we ask that you address your concerns directly to the staff member with whom you are working.

1. If you are not comfortable addressing the issue directly without support, please tell the staff member that you wish to have a discussion with another advocate present. This advocate may be another Y staff member or a friend with whom you feel comfortable.

All parties will meet for a mediated conversation to attempt to resolve the conflict collectively.

2. After mediated conversation, the advocate will email a summary of the conversation and its resolution to their direct supervisor and to the parties involved in the conflict within 3 business days following your meeting.

3. If this meeting did not resolve the issue at hand, the next option would be filing a grievance.

If after attempting to resolve the conflict directly you have unresolved concerns with any conditions related to your participation with YWCA of Greater Portland, including staff or services, you may file a grievance by filling out and submitting a Grievance Form.

1. Grievance procedures and forms can be completed online at www.ywcapdx.org/grievance. The grievance form can also be printed, filled out, and delivered to the YWCA staff person, mailed to the YWCA office, or emailed to grievance@ywcapdx.org.

2. The Grievance Form is considered received on the date that it is received in the office of the YWCA. Grievances filed online will be automatically dated and sent to the Executive Director, who will route the grievance to the appropriate supervisor.

3. To receive a detailed investigation of your grievance claim, please complete and sign applicable Release of Information (attached to YWCA Grievance Form), in accordance with state and federal VAWA law. A Release of Information will grant applicable YWCA managers and Executive Director to access all documentation related to your services with YWCA.

4. If you do not complete a Release of Information related to your grievance claim, YWCA will offer instead a meeting with all parties present to complete investigation.

5. If you decline to sign Release of Information and decline meeting with all parties present, YWCA will not be able to complete necessary investigation steps and will be required to close investigation as “inconclusive”.

6. If you complete a grievance form on paper and deliver it to a YWCA staff person, the staff person will sign and date the grievance form and provide a copy to the participant. The original shall be delivered to their supervisor within 24 hours.

7. If you need assistance completing the form, please ask for assistance from YWCA staff. If you are not comfortable asking the staff member with whom you are working for help, you may ask for assistance from the staff member’s supervisor, or by email at grievance@ywcapdx.org.

1. The supervisor or director, or their designee, will respond to you within 3 days with the plan for investigation and an estimated timeline.

2. The investigation and resolution plan may be completed in 5 days or up to 3 weeks, depending upon the issues involved and implied in the grievance.

3. Written findings will be mailed to you and a copy will be placed in your file. Depending upon whether the grievance is with a person or a policy, the written findings will be placed in the staff member’s or corresponding program’s central files.

4. You will be informed, in writing, regarding the procedures you should follow if you wish to appeal the outcome of the grievance.

A record of all grievances and resolutions are placed in a central file and analyzed periodically for patterns. Feedback regarding those patterns, if and as they are identified, are the responsibility of the YWCA Executive Director and/or their designee.

1. If a participant requests an appeal, the YWCA Program Manager or Director or designee may involve other agency staff. Participants will again be advised of the intended procedure to be followed and an anticipated timeline.

2. In no event can a grievance appeal go beyond the Executive Director, whose decision shall be final with regard to participant grievances.

A copy of the participant grievance form and release of information is

attached to these policies and procedures.