How to File a Complaint Against a Nursing Home in Vermont

Three Complaint Channels, Three Different Functions

Vermont offers three distinct paths for reporting concerns about a nursing home, assisted living residence, or residential care home. Each channel has a different mandate, investigative power, and response timeline. Choosing the right one — or using more than one — depends on the nature of the problem.

Division of Licensing and Protection (DLP) handles regulatory enforcement. They investigate whether a facility is violating its licensing standards — staffing ratios, medication protocols, safety requirements, clinical care standards. DLP has the power to cite deficiencies, require corrective action plans, impose fines, and in severe cases revoke a facility's license.

Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program (operated by Vermont Legal Aid) advocates for individual residents. The ombudsman investigates complaints from the resident's perspective — quality of care, dignity, rights violations, involuntary discharge threats — and works to resolve them through mediation and advocacy. They don't have regulatory enforcement power, but they have access to facilities and can escalate unresolved issues to DLP or Adult Protective Services.

Adult Protective Services (APS) investigates allegations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults. If you suspect your parent is being physically harmed, emotionally abused, financially exploited, or neglected in ways that endanger their health or safety, APS is the appropriate intake channel.

Filing with DLP

DLP is the primary regulatory body for licensed care facilities in Vermont. To file a complaint:

1. Contact DLP directly — they accept complaints by phone, email, or through the DAIL website
2. Describe the specific concern: what happened, when, which staff were involved, and what your parent experienced
3. DLP will determine whether the complaint warrants a formal investigation, which may include an unannounced site visit

DLP accepts anonymous complaints. If you provide your identity, ask DLP how it will handle that information; do not assume the facility will never learn who filed the complaint. Investigators review medical records, interview staff and residents, and compare what they find against the facility's licensing standards.

After an investigation, findings are documented in a Statement of Deficiencies. If deficiencies are cited, the facility must submit a Plan of Correction detailing how they'll fix each issue and prevent recurrence. Survey statements and plans of correction may be available through DLP's public search, subject to disclosure limits.

Checking a Facility's Record Before You Complain

The DLP survey statement search portal is publicly accessible and lets you look up any licensed facility's inspection history. Search for the facility name to find:

• Survey statements from unannounced annual inspections
• Complaint investigation results and related survey statements, subject to disclosure limits
• Plans of correction the facility submitted in response to cited deficiencies

For nursing homes specifically, cross-reference DLP findings with the federal CMS Five-Star Quality Rating on Medicare's Care Compare site. The federal rating aggregates health inspection results, staffing data, and quality measures into a single score — but it can mask recent problems if the last federal survey was months ago. The DLP state records are often more current.

If your parent is in an assisted living residence or residential care home, CMS Five-Star ratings don't apply — those are nursing-home-only. DLP's survey portal is the sole public source for inspection results on ALRs and RCHs.

When to Contact the Ombudsman

The Long-Term Care Ombudsman program is specifically designed for situations where a resident's rights or quality of life are being compromised but the issue may not rise to a licensing violation — or where the family wants an advocate working on their parent's behalf before escalating to regulatory enforcement.

Common ombudsman cases include: care plan disputes, involuntary discharge or room-change threats, restrictions on visitors or personal property, dietary complaints, staffing concerns that affect daily care quality, and situations where a resident feels intimidated about speaking up.

The ombudsman can enter any licensed facility, speak privately with residents, review relevant records, and mediate between the resident/family and facility administration. If mediation fails, the ombudsman can refer the matter to DLP for formal investigation.

Documenting Your Concerns

Before filing any complaint, document what you've observed:

• Dates and times of specific incidents
• Names of staff members involved (if known)
• Physical evidence (photographs of injuries, unsanitary conditions, or safety hazards, taken with your phone)
• Your parent's own statements about what happened
• Any communication with facility management about the issue and their response

Written documentation strengthens any complaint — whether filed with DLP, the ombudsman, or APS — and prevents the investigation from becoming a he-said-she-said dispute.

The Vermont care decision guide includes a facility evaluation scorecard that covers quality indicators to monitor during and after placement, alongside the contact information for each complaint channel.

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