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Grievance Procedure

Hands In Unity LLC | How to raise a concern or file a grievance

Not for emergencies or abuse reports

This procedure is for problems and complaints. It is not for emergencies. HIU's office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time. We do not have an after-hours line.

Someone in danger right now: call 911.

Suspected abuse, neglect or exploitation of a person receiving DDA services: DDA (Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging) Abuse Hotline 1-888-633-1313, 24 hours a day. You don't have to give your name.

Abuse, neglect or exploitation of any vulnerable adult: Adult Protective Services 1-888-APS-TENN (1-888-277-8366), 24/7.

Abuse or neglect of a child (under 18): Tennessee Child Abuse Hotline (Department of Children's Services) 1-877-237-0004, 24/7. Online (non-emergency): https://apps.tn.gov/carat/

HIU staff and FMPs: filing a grievance or calling HIU does not meet your duty to report. Call the hotline right away, then follow HIU's incident reporting steps. Everyone in Tennessee must report suspected child abuse.

Policy owner: Daniel Byerley, Co-founder and Executive Director | Approved by: Chris Pate, Co-founder and Director of Operations | Effective: October 19, 2026

1. Purpose

Hands In Unity LLC (HIU) wants to hear about problems so we can fix them. This procedure explains how anyone can raise a concern or file a grievance with HIU, what we will do, how fast, and where else you can go. It also serves as HIU's procedure for complaints about privacy (HIPAA) and about discrimination (Section 1557, Title VI, Section 504).

2. What is a grievance?

A grievance is any complaint or concern about HIU's services or how someone was treated. Examples:

The quality of support in a Family Model home, or a concern about an FMP or HIU staff member
A person's rights not being respected (privacy, visitors, food, choices, money, community access)
Unfair treatment or discrimination because of race, color, national origin, language, sex, age, or disability
Not getting an interpreter, translated information, an auxiliary aid, or a reasonable modification
The privacy of a person's health information
A problem with our website or its accessibility

Job issues of HIU staff or FMPs (pay, contracts, scheduling) are handled separately: contact Chris Pate. DDA's Customer Focused Services line does not handle employment issues.

3. Who can file

Anyone can file a grievance: the person receiving support, a family member, guardian or conservator, an FMP, an HIU staff member, a support coordinator, an advocate, a neighbor, or any member of the public. You can file for yourself or for someone else.

4. How to file

You can file in whatever way works for you. Grievances can be spoken or written.

Method	How
Phone	865-659-8279 (TRS: 711), Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Ask for Daniel Byerley.
Email	d.byerley@hiucare.com
Mail or in person	Hands In Unity LLC, Attn: Daniel Byerley, 900 E Hill Ave. Ste 430, Knoxville, TN 37915
Online form	Not available yet. Please use phone, email, mail, or visit us in person.
Concern about Daniel Byerley	Contact Chris Pate directly: 865-659-8279 (TRS 711), c.pate@hiucare.com, or by mail to the address above, Attn: Chris Pate.

Please tell us, if you can: what happened, when and where, who was involved, and what you would like to see happen. Approximate dates are fine. You do not need to use any special words or forms.

If your concern involves health details, please call us rather than emailing, and we will talk it through by phone.

Anonymous grievances

You can file without giving your name. To stay anonymous, call without giving your name, or mail an unsigned letter. We will look into it as fully as we can, but we will not be able to contact you, ask follow-up questions, or tell you what we did.

Help filing

We will help anyone who needs it, for free:

Disability accommodations: for example, we can write down what you tell us, read things aloud, meet in an accessible place, provide a sign language interpreter, or provide information in large print or other formats.
Language help: a qualified interpreter, or translated letters, at no cost.
Someone you trust: you can bring or ask a family member, friend, support coordinator or advocate to help you or speak for you.
Free advocacy is also available from Disability Rights Tennessee, 1-800-342-1660.

5. What happens after you file

Step	What HIU does	Timeline
1. Receive and log	Daniel Byerley records the grievance in HIU's grievance log (date received, who filed, how to reach them, what it is about, and any discrimination or privacy issue).	Same business day where possible
2. Acknowledge	If we know how to reach you, we confirm we received your grievance and explain next steps. We tell you if we need anything else.	Within 2 business days
3. Safety check	If the grievance describes possible abuse, neglect, exploitation or a danger to anyone, HIU reports it to the right hotline or 911 immediately and follows DDA reportable event rules. The grievance continues alongside any state investigation.	Immediately
4. Look into it	Daniel Byerley reviews records, talks with the people involved, and may visit the home. Anyone involved in the issue does not decide it.	As needed
5. Decide and respond in writing	Daniel Byerley decides what happened and what HIU will do. He sends a written response: what was looked at, the decision and reasons, any actions HIU will take, how to appeal, and the outside agencies you can contact.	Within 30 calendar days of receipt

A written response can be given in your language or in an accessible format, and can be explained to you by phone or in person. HIU does not extend this time: every grievance gets a written response within 30 calendar days.

Discrimination grievances

Daniel Byerley tells HIU's Civil Rights Coordinator, Chris Pate, about every grievance that alleges discrimination or a denied interpreter, aid, or reasonable modification. If you tell HIU about discrimination in TennCare-funded services, HIU will send a copy of your complaint to TennCare's Office of Civil Rights Compliance (HCFA.fairtreatment@tn.gov) within 2 days of receiving it, as TennCare and its health plans ask providers to do. HIU will also send Title VI complaints (race, color or national origin) to DDA's Office of Civil Rights (DDA.ocr@tn.gov) when our contracts require it. HIU still handles your grievance, and you can also file directly with any agency listed in this document.

Privacy (HIPAA) complaints

Daniel Byerley is HIU's Privacy Officer. Privacy complaints follow this same procedure, and HIU documents each complaint and what it did about it.

6. Appeals

If you disagree with Daniel Byerley's decision, you can appeal to Chris Pate, Co-founder and Director of Operations: 865-659-8279 (TRS 711), c.pate@hiucare.com, or by mail, Attn: Chris Pate, 900 E Hill Ave. Ste 430, Knoxville, TN 37915.

Ask for an appeal by phone or in writing within 15 calendar days of the date of our written response. Tell us why you disagree. If you need help asking, or more time because of a disability or language need, tell us.
Chris Pate reviews the grievance file, may talk with you and others, and sends you a written appeal decision within 30 calendar days of your appeal request.
Chris Pate's decision is HIU's final decision. You can still go to any outside agency listed in section 9, at any time.

Grievances about Daniel Byerley or Chris Pate

If your grievance is about Daniel Byerley, Chris Pate receives and decides it using the same steps and timelines. An appeal of that decision goes to an independent outside reviewer (see below).

If your grievance is about Chris Pate's handling of an appeal, or involves both Daniel Byerley and Chris Pate, HIU will ask an independent outside reviewer to handle it. The reviewer will have no part in the matter and no ownership in HIU, and will use the same steps and timelines (acknowledgment within 2 business days, decision within 30 calendar days, appeal within 15 calendar days, appeal decision within 30 calendar days). HIU will tell you who the reviewer is. You can also go directly to the outside agencies in section 9 at any time.

7. Confidentiality

HIU keeps grievances confidential. We share information only with people who need it to look into and resolve the grievance, with agencies when the law requires (for example, abuse reports to the state), and as allowed by our Notice of Privacy Practices. We keep the identity of a person who files a discrimination grievance confidential except as required by law or to carry out the investigation.

8. No retaliation

Tennessee licensing rules give people we support the right to voice grievances to staff, to HIU, and to outside representatives of their choice, free from restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination, or reprisal (Rule 0465-02-06-.06(1)(c)).

Hands In Unity will not punish, threaten, or treat anyone differently for raising a concern, helping someone else raise one, taking part in an investigation, or contacting an outside agency. That includes the person receiving support, their family, FMPs and staff. Services will not be reduced or stopped because someone complained. If you think this has happened, tell Chris Pate (865-659-8279), or call DDA Customer Focused Services at 1-833-696-2089. Retaliation by any HIU staff member or FMP is a serious violation of HIU policy and of FMP contracts.

9. You can go to outside agencies at any time

You do not have to file with HIU first, and you do not have to wait for our decision.

Agency	For	Contact
DDA Customer Focused Services (CFS)	Complaints about services (1915(c), Employment and Community First (ECF) CHOICES). Not for abuse reports. Anyone can file anonymously; DDA aims to resolve within 30 days.	1-833-696-2089 DDA.CFS@tn.gov
Your health plan (MCO) Member Advocate (ECF CHOICES)	Complaints about ECF CHOICES services	Wellpoint: 1-833-731-2153 (TTY 711) BlueCare: 1-800-468-9698 UnitedHealthcare: 1-800-690-1606
CLS Ombudsman (ECF CHOICES)	Members receiving Community Living Supports or CLS-Family Model	1-866-836-6678
TennCare (1915(c) waiver)	1915(c) waiver complaints, after or instead of talking with your Independent Support Coordinator	TennCare LTSS Director of Intellectual Disability Services: 615-837-5577 LTSS Help Desk: 1-877-224-0219
TennCare Office of Civil Rights Compliance	Discrimination in TennCare-funded services (file within 180 days)	615-507-6474 (TRS 711) HCFA.fairtreatment@tn.gov 310 Great Circle Road, Floor 3W, Nashville, TN 37243
DDA Title VI Compliance	Discrimination based on race, color, or national origin	(800) 535-9725, DDA.ocr@tn.gov East Region: (423) 787-6491, Tammy.R.Green@tn.gov
U.S. HHS Office for Civil Rights	Discrimination (race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability) and health information privacy (HIPAA). File within 180 days.	https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/smartscreen/main.jsf 1-800-368-1019 / TDD 1-800-537-7697 OCRMail@hhs.gov Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 509F, HHH Building, Washington, D.C. 20201
Free advocacy	Help with complaints, appeals and rights	Disability Rights Tennessee: 1-800-342-1660 TennCare Beneficiary Support System: 1-888-723-8193

10. Records

HIU keeps each grievance file (the grievance, notes of the review, the written response, any appeal, and the outcome) for 6 years from the date it is resolved, in HIU's secure Microsoft 365 records. This meets the HIPAA 6-year documentation rule and exceeds the 3-year Section 1557 grievance-record rule. Daniel Byerley reviews the grievance log every quarter to look for patterns and improve services.

11. Getting this procedure in other formats

This procedure is posted at hiucare.com/report-a-concern and available at our office. As Tennessee licensing rules require, each person we support (or their legal representative) gets a description of it in writing, explained in person, together with their rights and a list of advocacy services, before or when services start (Rule 0465-02-06-.06(1)(a)-(b)). Language and disability help. If you speak a language other than English, free language help is available. Free large print, sign language interpreters and other aids are also available. Call 865-659-8279 (TRS: 711).

Free language help in other languages. Language-assistance taglines in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, French, Amharic, Gujarati, Laotian, German, Tagalog, Hindi, Russian, Japanese and Persian are on our Language assistance page. Call 865-659-8279 (TRS 711).

Approved by Chris Pate, Co-founder and Director of Operations, and Daniel Byerley, Co-founder and Executive Director (approver of record), on October 19, 2026. Effective October 19, 2026.

Hands In Unity LLC · 900 E Hill Ave. Ste 430, Knoxville, TN 37915 · 865-659-8279 (TRS 711) · Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Time