The child care unit at Hamilton County Job & Family Services oversaw 9,000 cases of publicly funded child care in 2013, answered more than 65,000 phone calls and inspected roughly 1,000 home day cares twice.

And the team did all that with no substantiated Customer Service Office complaints. Zero.

Section Chief Amy Story credits her staff members, whom she says are selected because they’re well-suited to the jobs they perform. Her workers give the credit to her. Her Adult Protective Services and Non-Emergency Transportation workers received no complaints either.

"She runs a very tight ship,” investigator Tim Petry said. “I think everyone knows what’s expected and what to do.”

Some technical changes have helped ease the workload. Digital imaging of all documents, which began in late 2012, allows necessary paperwork to be accessed immediately, rather than workers having to go through filing cabinets looking for what they need to answer clients’ questions and help determine eligibility.

“It’s just so much easier to address an issue when you can see it right in front of you,” said Nancy Miller, who came to work at the agency in 2005 after selling lumber.

Karen Evans, client services manager, said she thinks complaints don't reach her level from the Child Care team in part because consumer specialists take the calls and can act on them immediately rather than taking a message.

"When people call in," she said, "their issues are resolved right then in real time."

And the group is working harder to keep online information up to date so clients can get questions answered there.

But it’s more than that, the employees say. It’s about fostering teamwork and buy-in to the unit’s mission of helping provide safe, quality child care to eligible people who need help while they work or go to school.

“I believe in this program,” said Annette Crompton, who has worked for HCJFS for 20 years. “A lot of people want to go to work and need to go to school and child care is so expensive.”

It’s about respect too, said Krystal Hunter: “I think we respect the clients and we treat them that way."

Petry said it’s possible to respect day care providers even as you’re investigating them.

“We make it very clear,” he said. “We will advocate for them all day long until they give us a reason not to.”

Story’s Child Care team, now 25 workers, was once almost double in size. The number has remained steady since 2009. So the no-complaint year, she said, shows that even a smaller group of good, experienced people working in jobs that suit them can still result in satisfied workers and clients.

"Amy and her staff do a great job working together and working to ensure excellent customer service," said Tim McCartney, chief operating officer. "When all members of a team commit to not letting the customer down and not letting each other down... excellent customer service is the result. That is the case with Amy's team."