At Black Foster Carers Alliance (BFCA), we value feedback from our community. This Compliments and Complaints Policy sets out clear, accessible routes for sharing compliments or raising concerns, and explains how we respond. It ensures that everyone’s experience is heard, acknowledged, addressed fairly, and used to improve what we do.
This policy applies to feedback about any aspect of BFCA’s services, activities, staff, volunteers, and content. It can be used by foster carers, families, children and young people, partner organisations, members, and members of the public. Where a concern relates to a matter handled by another organisation (for example a local authority or fostering service), we will help you identify the right body and, with your consent, pass the concern on.
We commit to handling all feedback in line with these principles:
We welcome compliments, positive feedback, and expressions of satisfaction. If you have had a positive experience with our services, staff, or content, we would love to hear about it. Compliments are shared with the individuals and teams involved and help us understand what is working well.
If you are unhappy with any aspect of our services, interactions, or content, please tell us. You can raise a concern or complaint by:
Please tell us what happened, when, who was involved, what impact it had on you, and what outcome you are hoping for. Providing your contact details allows us to keep you updated and resolve the matter more effectively.
We recognise that raising a complaint can feel daunting. We can make reasonable adjustments to help you use this process, and you are welcome to ask a friend, family member, or advocate to support you or act on your behalf with your consent.
Wherever possible, we aim to put things right quickly. If you feel able to, raise the matter directly with the person or team involved, who will try to resolve it straight away. If the issue is sensitive, or you would prefer not to raise it informally, you can move directly to Stage 2.
If the matter cannot be resolved informally, or you remain dissatisfied, you can make a formal complaint using any of the contact routes above.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed. Please tell us within 20 working days of our response why you remain dissatisfied and what outcome you are seeking. The review will be carried out by a senior member of staff or a trustee who has not previously been involved, and we will respond within 20 working days.
If your complaint concerns the Chief Executive, a trustee, or the Board, it will be directed to the Chair of Trustees (or another trustee where there is a conflict of interest) to ensure it is handled independently.
If you have exhausted our complaints procedure and remain dissatisfied, you may be able to escalate the matter to a relevant external body, such as the appropriate regulator or ombudsman. We will, on request, tell you which body may be able to help and how to contact them.
While we encourage openness, we understand that some people may prefer to remain anonymous. Anonymous complaints will be taken seriously and investigated as far as is reasonably possible, though providing contact details allows us to keep you informed and resolve matters more effectively.
All complaints are handled sensitively and confidentially. Personal information is shared only with those directly involved in the investigation and resolution, and is processed in line with UK data protection law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) and our Privacy Policy. We retain complaint records securely and only for as long as necessary.
Complaints are valuable opportunities to improve. We record and monitor all complaints, analyse them for patterns and themes, and use what we learn to strengthen our services, training, and practice.
This policy is reviewed regularly to ensure it remains effective and fit for purpose.
By engaging with Black Foster Carers Alliance, you agree to the principles set out in this Compliments and Complaints Policy. Your feedback supports our commitment to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement.