Section 504.830  Grievance Procedures

a)         Grievances shall be reviewed and a written response provided to the offender.  Grievances on issues that are deemed without merit may be returned as denied to the sender without further investigation.  No merit grievances include grievances that:

1)         Have previously been addressed for which there is no additional information;

2)         Are on issues that do not involve or affect the offender;

3)         Are not filed timely, and for which good cause justification for the delay is not provided; or

4)         Are decisions previously rendered by the Director.

b)         Grievances alleging discrimination based on disability or a request for an accommodation based upon disability shall be forwarded to the facility ADA Coordinator. If deemed an ADA issue, the facility ADA Coordinator shall conduct the investigation as deemed appropriate and make written recommendations to the Chief Administrative Officer for resolution of the grievance.

c)         Grievances identified as a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) issue involving the privacy of medical records, access to medical records, restriction of medical records, or an error in medical records shall be forwarded to the facility Privacy Officer.  The facility Privacy Officer shall conduct an investigation and make written recommendations to the Chief Administrative Officer for resolution of the grievance.

d)         An offender may be afforded an opportunity to appear before the Grievance Officer unless the grievance is deemed without merit.  The Grievance Officer may call witnesses as deemed appropriate.

e)         The Grievance Officer shall consider the grievance and report his or her findings and recommendations in writing to the Chief Administrative Officer within two months after receipt of the written grievance, when reasonably feasible under the circumstances.  The Chief Administrative Officer shall review the findings and recommendation and advise the offender of his or her decision in writing.  Responses to duplicate grievances on issues that are currently being grieved may be combined in one response.

(Source:  Amended at 41 Ill. Reg. 3869, effective April 1, 2017)