Booking an Appointment

How to Book an Appointment

a calendar with a pen

You may use one of the three options to schedule an appointment. Appointments can either be in-person, by phone, or via Zoom.

Online booking

You can use our online booking system to schedule your appointment directly.

Email

You can email [email protected]. To ensure the highest level of confidentiality, we suggest you limit the use of email for only scheduling appointments.

Phone

You can call 703-791-8587 to schedule an appointment.


To help you set your expectations for your meeting, please remember that:

The Ombudsman can

  • Listen to your concerns
  • Act as a neutral sounding board
  • Clarify PWCS policies
  • Explore options available
  • Facilitate discussions between parties to resolve issues
  • Collect data on emerging trends and patterns while safeguarding anonymity

The Ombudsman cannot

  • Advocate for the visitor or PWCS
  • Decide who is right or wrong
  • Conduct formal investigations
  • Serve as notice of claims against PWCS
  • Overrule decisions already made
  • Make or change PWCS policies or regulations

Guide to your initial appointment

While your meeting may go in several different directions depending on your specific needs, below is a general outline of your initial meeting.

  • Initial Conversation - Set up a time to meet privately and confidentially either in person, virtually, or over the phone.
  • Clarify Roles - Review the standards of practice for an Ombudsman and answer any questions about the role, and how the office works.
  • Understand the Situation - Listen and ask questions to understand the situation from the visitor's perspective, not to decide who is right or wrong.
  • Analysis - Work with the visitor to look at the issue in a different way by thinking about other individuals, issues, relationships, and causation.
  • Explore Options - Identify potential options which may help to address the situation.
  • Next Steps - As the visitor determines their way forward, the office may be involved as long as it is within the scope of the office.