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VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT

OF SOCIAL SERVICES ENERGY ASSISTANCE

06/07 VOLUME IX, CHAPTER F, PAGE 2

The local agency conference may or may not result in change in the LDSS decision regarding action. Regardless of the result of the conference, the client must be provided with the opportunity to request a fair hearing or, if an appeal has been filed, make a written withdrawal of the request. The client must be advised in writing of the LDSS decision. If the client is not satisfied with the LDSS action following the conference and wishes to request a fair hearing, the fact that the conference was held will in no way affect the appeal process.

3. DEFINITIONS

a. Claimant - A person who files an appeal.

b. Hearing Officer - An impartial representative of the State Agency to whom appeals are duly assigned and by whom they are heard. He/she must not have been involved in any way with the LDSS action on appeal. The hearing officer is given the authority to conduct and control hearings and to decide appeal cases.

c. State Hearing Authority - A comprehensive term used to designate the State Agency decision-maker in appeal cases; as such it includes the Commissioner and duly qualified hearing officers, including the Hearing and Legal Services Manager, of the State Department of Social Services, in whom the Commissioner has given full authority to make decisions in appeal cases in the name of the State Hearing Authority.

Upon the request of either the applicant or the LDSS, the Commissioner may review a decision by a hearing officer.

d. State Agency - This term, for purposes of this Chapter, refers to the Home Office and to the five Regional Offices of the State Department of Social Services. It is the responsibility of the State agency to assure that appeal provisions are correctly administered and that decisions in appeal cases are consistent with established policies.

e. Hearing and Legal Services Manager - An individual who determines, promulgates and assures compliance with internal procedures, including processes for maintaining the Commissioner's review of fair hearings. This individual also trains and supervises the hearing officers, holds hearings, and renders decisions for the Commissioner.

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