Grounds; objectives of hearing process.
(a)The Mayor, upon receipt of an application made pursuant…#
(a) The Mayor, upon receipt of an application made pursuant to § 4-210.05 , shall grant a fair hearing to any applicant for or a recipient of public assistance whose claim for assistance has been denied or has not been acted upon within a reasonable time not to exceed 45 days; or who is aggrieved by any other action or inaction of the Mayor which affects the receipt, termination, amount, kind, or conditions of his assistance.
(b)The following are the major objectives of the hearing…#
(b) The following are the major objectives of the hearing process in public assistance:
(1) To enable the Mayor and the claimant to ascertain jointly the factual basis on which, through proper application of the assistance law and agency policies, a just and equitable decision may be reached;
(2) To safeguard applicants and recipients from mistaken, negligent, unreasonable, or arbitrary action by agency staff; and
(3) To reveal aspects of agency policy that are inequitable or constitute a misconstruction of law. It is intended to submit policy to test and argument, and to place in the hands of policy-making officials evidence indicating the need for modification of policies and standards, and the nature of the needed modification.