What is the primary purpose of incident investigation in a licensed agency?

• A. To assign blame
• B. To determine root causes, implement corrective actions, and involve designated supervisors and investigators per policy.
• C. To train staff
• D. To collect data for marketing

Answer: (B)

The primary purpose of incident investigations in a licensed agency is to determine root causes and implement corrective actions to prevent recurrence, with involvement of designated supervisors and investigators per policy. This focuses on safety, compliance, and ongoing improvement rather than assigning blame. By digging into underlying factors—procedures, training gaps, supervision, environment, and communication—the agency can identify what needs to change to reduce future risk. Involving the designated supervisors and investigators ensures the process follows policy, maintains consistency, and uses established authority for follow-up. While staff training and accountability may result from the findings, those are outcomes of fixing the system, not the main aim of the investigation. Collecting data for marketing is outside the purpose of incident investigations.