1712 Refutation

Georgia State Seal

Department of Human Services
Policy and Manual Management System

Index:

POL 1712

Revised:

04/01/2026

Next Review:

04/01/2028

​Policy

It is the policy of Residential Child Care Licensing (RCCL) to grant licensed providers the opportunity to refute findings and/or citations identified within a final Statement of Deficiencies (survey report) if the refutation is submitted along with a required written Plan of Correction (POC) and prior to the Department’s approval of the written plan of correction. Where a Statement of Deficiencies (survey report) does not include citations requiring a written POC, the refutation must be submitted within 10 business days of receipt of the final Statement of Deficiencies (survey report).

It is the intent of RCCL that this process be conducted in good faith by ensuring that any disputes of findings and/or citations are evaluated objectively by a committee of RCCL staff with no direct involvement in the refuted survey. Acknowledgement of receipt of refutations will be sent to the licensed provider within five business days of receipt. A final response and detailed outcome will be provided to the licensed provider within thirty calendar days of the Acknowledgement Letter.

​Authority

O.C.G.A. §§ 49-5-8

​References

POL-1709 Plan of Correction

​Applicability

This policy applies to all RCCL staff and licensed child welfare agencies.

​Definitions

Child Welfare Agencies

Licensed Child-Caring Institutions (CCI), Child-Placing Agencies (CPA), Children’s Transition Care Centers (CTCC), Commercial Sexual Exploitation Recovery Centers (CSERC), Outdoor Child Caring Programs (OCCP), Maternity Homes (MH), and Qualified Residential Treatment Programs (QRTP).

Plan of Correction

A written plan submitted to RCCL by the person or persons responsible for the CCI, CPA, CSERC, CTCC, OCCP, MH, or QRTP. The plan shall identify the existing areas of non-compliance coupled with the proposed procedures, methods and period of time required to correct the areas of noncompliance.

Refutation

A provider’s objection to one or more cited deficiencies on the Statement of Deficiencies. All objections must be included in the Plan of Correction.

​Responsibilities

  1. The RCCL Director is responsible for monitoring requirements for updating this policy.

  2. The RCCL Publisher and the RCCL Rules Coordinator will update this policy according to state requirements.

​History

Replaces Refutations POL1712, last reviewed on 4/01/2026.

​Evaluation

The RCCL Director, Deputy Director of Program Operations, Deputy Director of Field Operations, and RCCL Rules Coordinator will evaluate this policy when:

  1. Reviewing submitted refutation reports.

  2. Conducting inspections and investigations of licensed child welfare agencies.

  3. Conducting quality assurance audits reviews and quality control audits of survey reports.