April 2012 Process Document:

“General guideline for procedure for handling “Letters of Concern” addressed to the EMHA Board”

Purpose:

The EMHA Board does receive letters of concern from various persons directly or indirectly involved with the Eckville Minor Hockey Association. In this regard, the Board needs to be consistent in dealing with the receipt of letters, the vetting to the letters to the Board, investigation of concerns, recommendations to address concerns based on findings, and communication back to parties of interest.

Receipt of letters.

  • Based on the Boards efforts to attend year beginning “Parent Meetings” whereby it is stressed that teams should try to resolve issues internally before approaching the Board, if a letter is sent to the Board it is assumed that internal avenues of communication are not viable and the Board will accept and address the letter.
  • All letters should be sent in a sealed envelope to the “President of the EMHA” and if communication cannot be made, then to the “Vice President of the EMHA”. Persons sending such a letter should contact the President and arrange for receipt of the letter.
  • The President/Vice President shall at their sole discretion, redact any information contained within the letter that is not related to EMHA business prior to presentation to any other Board Members.
  • The President/ Vice President will read the letter and will seek to bring the letter before all board members that can be foreseen to have no conflict with the situation. The letter writer’s nameswill remain confidential to those board members.
  • The Board will attempt to work through the issue in as timely a manner as possible. Great consideration should be taken to prevent the propagation of damaging rumors.
  • As much as is possible, all names, circumstances, and issues arising from a letter of concern shall be kept confidential to the board room

Investigation

  • The Board members will discuss the letter to formulate an investigative process to determine the validity and extent of the contents/concerns there contained.
  • If the letter is of complaint regarding an EMHA hockey team (player, coach, parent) the investigation will normally involve interviewing as many parents from the team and/or directly concerned persons, as possible, in a very timely manner.
  • If the complaint is directed toward an individual, that person will also be interviewed by the board.

Resolution of findings

  • The Board will consider the findings of the investigation and rationalize those findings against the validity of the concerns raised in the correspondence.
  • The Board will then consider actions that might be taken to remedy the issues. These actions may take various forms to include suspensions when seen as necessary. Where possible and for situations that fit those actions may be formulated as sets of optional actions which may be presented to an individual depending on that person realization and willingness to correct the offensive behaviors.

Presentation of findings and actions

  • A meeting with the offending individual(s)will be set up in as timely a manner as possible.
  • Any non-valid concerns will be explained. Any validated offensive behavior will be explained and the person will be given a chance to respond.
  • An appropriate set of actions intended to promote acceptable behaviors will then be presented in letter form to the person.
  • The specific content of the letter and the actions contained therein will, as is possible, be kept confidential to the board and the person.

Communication of the Boards findings and action to be taken

  • A formal letter of response will be written to those that wrote letters to the Board. The letter will contain the findings of the Board. Non-valid concerns will be explained as such. Valid concerns will be acknowledged. Any suspensions will be noted. However, other actions to be taken will normally be kept confidential and the letter will generally state that actions will be taken to remedy the concerns.
  • The Board should consider the necessity of holding a parent meeting to communicate the issues in hopes of preventing the propagation of damaging rumors.
  • If the offending person is a coach and the actions taken include a suspension from coaching, prior to returning to coaching, the coach must hold a Board facilitated parent meeting to acknowledge the unacceptable behavior and explain positive actions to be taken prior to returning.
  • Any suspended persons that do not return immediately after suspension will be contacted and asked for a formal resignation.
  • Based on the significance of the issues that caused valid concerns to be addressed, the Board, at an appropriate interval, may choose to conduct a review to ensure said issues continue to be managed.

Amended Mar-26-2014