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CHAPTER 7 - GRIEVANCES AND FAIR HEARINGS

INTRODUCTION 7.1

ALL An applicant/recipient dissatisfied with an action taken by DHS that affects benefits, program participation or program requirements may request a fair hearing The applicant/recipient may file a hearing request with any member of the department. He may also file a request with the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), the District agency that is responsible for adjudicating disputes regarding eligibility for department programs. Upon receiving a request from an applicant/recipient or his/her representative, a fair hearing shall be held within a reasonable time not to exceed 45 days. When an applicant/recipient requests a fair hearing from a DHS representative, the request shall be forwarded to the Office of Administrative Review and Appeals (OARA). Upon receiving the request for a hearing, OARA schedules an administrative conference and notifies OAH. OAH shall assign the case to an administrative law judge (ALJ) and set a date and time for the fair hearing. The purpose of the administrative review conference is to try to resolve the disagreement informally. If the administrative review conference resolves the issue, the applicant/recipient may sign a written request to withdraw the fair-hearing request. Participation in the administrative review conference is always optional Unless an applicant/recipient opts to participate in the administrative review conference and agrees to withdraw the request, the fair hearing will proceed as scheduled. OAH holds hearings and renders decisions on disputes between applicants/recipients and the agency. OAH also provides a written final decision explaining its findings and ruling to the applicant/recipient, his representative and DHS/ESA. An applicant/recipient who is dissatisfied with the outcome of a fair hearing can appeal the final hearing decision to the DC Court of Appeals. Written information regarding the right to request a hearing and the method of making such request shall be furnished to each public assistance applicant/recipient at the time of application and whenever DHS notifies the household that it intends to take action which may adversely affect benefits, including changes in or terminations of assistance payments. Such written notice shall include: • that the applicant/recipient has the right to be represented by legal counsel or by a lay person who is not an employee of the District, • that she may bring witnesses on her behalf, • that reasonable expenses related to the hearing, such as transportation costs for the applicant/recipient and his witnesses will be paid by the department, and • a list of public and private sources providing legal services at low or no cost. ESA will monitor the implementation of all final decisions for ESA programs to ensure that it has complied with all final determinations. Applicants/recipients may also report complaints about the quality of service provided by the agency. An applicant/recipient that has a complaint about DHS procedures or staff related to any ESA-administered programs may contact the Customer Service Unit, a supervisor, center manager or the Administrator or Deputy Administrator of the ESA The FS program has a formalized mechanism for handling complaints related to the FS program (see Section 7.6: Federal Reporting Requirements for Compliance in this Chapter). OARA handles FS complaints and is required to submit annual reports on the number and type of complaints received.